Wild Turkey
by Tardis19
Summary: Bella Swan's life had been turned upside down, but she hadn't thought things could get worse. She was wrong. Life as she knew it was over the minute her father drove them pass the sign that said Welcome to Wild Turkey Island, Alabama, population 1,200. Yeah, life officially sucked. AH, M for language and possible adult situations, Teen fic.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Just a little something I wrote for NANO last year. It's un-beta'd so I'm apologizing for any and all mistakes ahead of time. Updates will be every Friday. No offense is intended to the great state of Alabama or those that live there.**

* * *

Rain splattered across the windshield as Charlie drove us toward Hell. The past ten hours had been tension filled, the only sounds being the crappy-ass country music on every freaking radio station or Charlie's pathetic attempts at talk.

"C'mon, Bella. How long are you going to keep up the silent treatment?"

As long as possible. I was so furious with both him and Renee, my mom. Everything had been perfect; my life had been perfect and then bam! Next thing I knew, they were getting divorced. Renee was moving off to California to live with some college boy she met on the Internet, and Charlie sold our house and was moving us to Bumfuck, Alabama. I mean, seriously. _Who lives in Alabama?_

"Look, Bells. I know that you're upset, but our moving isn't the end of the world. Think of it as a new start."

I didn't want a new start. I wanted to be back in Seattle. I wanted the bustling of the city, Starbucks, and my friends. I did not want to live in some dumpy ass town in Ala-freaking-bama. I didn't want to eat fried alligators, listen to country music, and deal with southern belles.

"We should be in Wild Turkey in about an hour."

_Great._ We were moving to a town named after a brand of whiskey. _Could it get any worse?_

Of course, it could. An hour later, we drove over a four mile long bridge before passing a sign that read Welcome to Wild Turkey Island. It claimed that it was the Home of Judd's Famous Roasted Wild Turkey and Wild Turkey Days. The population was a whole whopping one thousand and ten. Make that one thousand and twelve. _ Oh, yeah. _Life officially sucked. I was stuck on an island in the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama with no escape. How in the world did I get so lucky?

"I know that you miss Seattle and the big city, but Wild Turkey doesn't look half bad. Just think. You can hit up the beaches everyday and bask in the sunshine," Charlie said.

Right. Because I tanned. Please. If I so much as looked at the sun, I burned.

As we drove past the welcome sign, there were a bunch of docks to the left of us housing boats, and what looked like a swamp to the right. We kept heading down Lemon Drive, passing a fishing supply store, a church, some houses, and the Loon Cafe. At the cafe, Charlie took a left onto Alabama Boulevard, the street lined thick with trees and the occasional house. A few more miles and then we turned right onto Wild Turkey Road. The trees were even thicker there and about a two miles down the road, Charlie turned into a driveway on the left.

As Charlie drove down the pothole filled driveway, I couldn't help but grimace as the house came into view. It looked small, had a tiny porch and a shed, and it was surrounded by trees. Upon closer inspection, I saw that indeed, it was much smaller than the house I'd grown up in.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I scowled as I surveyed my new "home."

"Oh, she finally speaks."

I turned to face him. "Please tell me this is a joke. You can't actually expect me to live in a run-down shack in the backwoods."

"It's hardly a shack, Bella," Charlie said with an eye roll. "Besides, a new coat of paint and a bit of fixing up, and it should be good as new," Charlie said with a grin as he got out of the car.

I crossed my arms over my chest and refused to move. There was no way in hell that I was sleeping in that place and I said as much.

"That's fine. You can sleep in the car. Look out for the alligators, racoons, armadillos, and creepy crawlies."

Charlie roared with laughter as I climbed out of the car and stomped my way up the rotting steps and into the shack. The front door opened up right into the kitchen which was painted the ugliest shade of yellow I'd ever seen.

"Bedrooms are down the hall. Pick one," Charlie told me.

Walking down the hall, I reluctantly opened a door. Immediately, I shut it. There was a freaking stuffed alligator sitting in the corner. Taking a deep breath, I walked across the hall and opened the other door. _Ew. _ It looked like a daisy had thrown up all over the walls, the curtains, and the bedspread. Those would have to go. And so would that bed. No way was I sleeping in the same bed that someone's grandmother had died in.

"The moving truck should arrive tomorrow. Until then you'll have to sleep in that bed, on the floor, or on the couch. Your choice," Charlie said.

The former owner, I was informed, had passed away and had no family. Hence why all of her crap was still there. Charlie had told the real estate agent that he'd remove the furniture if he got money off on the place. Apparently, the agent was so desperate to sell the place, that she readily agreed. Charlie claimed that he'd gotten the house at a cheap price. Well, you know what they say. You get what you pay for.

Later that night, I curled up on the old couch with a moldy afghan. I was so tired that I actually drifted off right away.

Bzzzzzz.

Bzzzzzz.

_What the hell?! _I sat up, pushed my hair out of my face, and tried to locate the most annoying sound in the world.

Bzzzzzz.

Stomping over to the front door, I threw it open and saw a bug zapper hanging from the porch. The stupid thing was zapping like crazy and driving me freaking insane. Scowling, I slammed the door shut and went back to the couch. Plopping down on it, I let out a cough as dust swirled around me.

Knowing that I wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon, I pulled out my phone to text my bestie, Angela. Of course, I had no bars. _Why would I?_ I doubted the people of Wild Turkey even knew what a cell phone was. Huffing, I laid back down and tried to sleep.

By the time the sun came up, I'd investigated every book on the measly bookshelf in the living room and thrown out two garbage bags of magazines. After that, I'd dug out my sketchbook from one of the bags in my room and spent some time drawing. I wasn't the world's greatest artist, but I enjoyed it. Drawing helped to take my mind off of things.

"Hey, Bells," Charlie said with a grin as he came into the room.

I glared at him. I couldn't possibly understand why he was so freaking happy.

"Truck should be here by six tonight. My buddy, Carlisle, is coming over in a bit to help us move out the old furniture and paint the place."

_Ah, yes_. His buddy, Carlisle. The whole reason that we'd moved to this God-forsaken place. It was all Carlisle's fault. He and Charlie had gone to college together and after college and med school, Carlisle had gone back to his hometown of Wild Turkey. When he'd found out that Charlie and Renee had divorced and that Charlie was looking for a change, good ole Carlisle had recommended Wild Turkey. He'd told Charlie that Wild Turkey was looking for a new Chief of Police, and that was all Charlie needed to hear. He'd applied, gotten hired, sold our house, packed us up, and driven us straight into the bowels of hell without any regard for me or my feelings.

Twenty minutes later, after a freezing cold shower in a tiny ass bathroom, I was dressed and dying from the heat. It wasn't even eight in the morning and already the temperature was in the upper 80s. Me and heat did not get along. At all.

"Bells, come meet Carlisle."

Could I greet him with a swift kick to the junk or would that be considered rude? Grumbling, I headed out onto the porch and found myself face to face with a hot guy. Well, hot for an older guy.

"Nice to meet you," I said after Charlie gave me a glare.

"It's nice to meet you to, Bella. Charlie's told me a lot about you," he said in a thick southern accent. "My boys will be here in a minute to help out. I figure old Mrs. Warren's stuff is still in there, and she had a lot of stuff."

"No shit," I muttered, ignoring the look that Charlie was giving me.

"Your boys are close to Bella's age, aren't they?" Charlie asked.

Carlisle nodded. "Yup. Emmett is eighteen, Jasper and Edward are seventeen."

_Great. _ I could spend the day with redneck boys. I could hardly wait.

While we were waiting for "the boys", we got to removing the dining room table and chairs. We stacked them up outside and as I took the last chair out, a truck blaring country music came down the road and pulled into the drive.

I was completely unprepared for the hotness that climbed out of it. And I mean hotness. Totally, drool-worthy, hotness.

"Howdy there, ma'am. I'm Jasper Cullen," the blond hair god said as he came my way. He was tall, built, and incredibly good-looking.

"Bella Swan," I said as he took my hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. _My, my._ Someone was certainly the charmer.

"That's my brother, Edward," Jasper told me, pointing toward the bronze-haired Adonis who was just as equally built. Apparently, good genes ran in the family. Edward was fucking gorgeous. Stunningly so. His hair was sticking up all over his head and he had amazing green eyes.

"Hey," I said, getting a curt nod in response. Hmph. Well, he could certainly take some charm lessons from his brother.

A second later, I was wrapped up in a hug by a giant of a man. He twirled me around for a moment before setting me back down on my feet. With a wry grin, Jasper introduced me to his older brother, Emmett.

I liked Emmett right away. He gave off an older brother vibe. That and his eyes danced with mischief. He was someone I could get in trouble with, and someone I could count on for entertainment in this hell hole.

"Ah, boys. Glad to see you've arrived. Let's get moving," Carlisle interrupted.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning out the place and trying not to ogle hot boys when they removed their shirts.

"You gonna stand there all day, or you gonna help out?" bronze-haired boy asked with a sneer as he came up behind me. I didn't know what his problem was, but he was beginning to piss me off.

"What's your problem, Edwin?" I snarled as I shoved some old quilts into a bag.

"It's Edward," he snarled back. "And, I tend to have a problem with lazy city girls who expect others to do all the work."

"Listen here, asshole. I'm sweating my ass off, hauling crap, and helping out. You have no freaking right to stand there and call me lazy. So fuck off!"

"Geez, Ed. Lay off, man. She's helping out, ain't she?" Jasper said as he came into the room. Scowling, Edward stomped out of the room and I was left with Jasper.

"What the hell is your brother's problem?"

Jasper shook his head. "He and his girl are having problems, but he ain't got no right to take it out on you. Just ignore him."

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. The asshole was walking around shirtless, showing off those glorious abs tinted with sweat, but I did my best to ignore that he even existed.

"So, tell me about yourself Jasper," I said as we were breaking down the bed in what was going to be my room.

"Not much to tell, darlin'. I'm eighteen, a senior, and I play football. I like huntin', fishin', surfin' and hanging out with my friends."

"Got a girlfriend?" I asked.

He shot me a grin. "Why? You interested?"

I let out a laugh. He was hot and nice but sadly, I wasn't interested in him that way at all. "Sadly, no. Just curious."

"Well now, there's this sweet thing named Alice that I'm working on. She's …" he trailed off for a minute, his eyes glazing over. "She's amazing. Tiny little thing, with big blue eyes and black hair. I've been in love with her since the minute I laid eyes on her."

"Yeah? So, why haven't you asked her out yet?"

He let out a sigh as he ran his fingers through his sweaty hair. "Well, she was dating this guy from Mobile up until a few months ago. I've been giving her time to recover from the breakup, since it hit her pretty hard. The Wild Turkey Day parade and dance is next week, and I'm gonna ask her if she wants to go with me."

"Man, are the two of you going to chat all day or actually do some work?" Edward interrupted.

I was so freaking close to hitting him in the head with the closest, heaviest object I could find.

"Excuse us a second," Jasper growled as he grabbed Edward by the arm and dragged him out of the room.

Furious with the asshole's attitude, I worked off my mad by cleaning like a crazy woman. By the time, Charlie poked his head in the room to tell me lunch was ready, my bedroom freaking sparkled.

"Wow, kid. It looks great. Take a break. Esme, Carlisle's wife, brought lunch."

I washed my hands and fixed my hair before heading out onto the porch. I saw that some card tables had been set up in the shade and were groaning under the weight of what smelled like fried chicken.

I slowly made my way over to the tables and was introduced to Carlisle's wife. I told her it was nice to meet her and thanked her for bringing the food. And there was a lot of food. Of course, after a few minutes I saw why she'd made so much. The boys, including Carlisle, could really back it away.

I'd grabbed a chicken leg, some potato salad, and a glass of tea and sat down next to Charlie. All that cleaning and moving had made me thirsty so I took a huge swallow of tea and nearly choked to death. Charlie pounded me on the back asking if I was okay. I nodded as I pushed the glass away from me. Good lord, there had to have been at least nine tablespoons of sugar in that glass alone.

"Is something wrong with the tea, dear?" Esme, as she insisted I call her, asked.

"It's just a bit too sweet for my liking, that's all," I told her.

"Well you're in the south now, and we like our tea sweet. Better get used to it," Emmett informed me.

After lunch, I helped Esme clean up, despite her protests. Once I was done helping Esme, Jasper and I began to peel off the daisy explosion wallpaper that covered my room. Thankfully, it came off easy and the wall underneath was nice, plain, off-white.

"Is there somewhere to buy paint?" I asked Jasper, because honestly, my room needed some color.

"Black's Hardware and Grocery on Lemon Drive. It's got groceries, hardware supplies, bait and tackle. That kind of stuff. "

I thanked him, then went to ask Charlie if he wanted me to head to Black's and get the stuff we needed.

"Sure, Bells. Here's a list of things that I needed to get as well."

Taking the list, I got into his Tahoe and headed down the road. It was an easy drive, and I soon found myself parked in front of Black's. I climbed out of Charlie's SUV and got my first real look at Wild Turkey Island. Not surprisingly, there wasn't a whole lot to see.

The parking lot was pretty empty, a few stray grocery carts milling about, an old Pepsi machine, and some palm trees. I did have a love for palm trees so that was a plus for living here, but so far that was pretty much the only plus. Well, that and some hot guys.

Clutching my wallet, keys, and the list, I headed inside and found an older Native American guy manning a checkout line. He must have seen my lost, slightly dazed look.

"Can I help you?"

I handed him the list that Charlie had given me and the man motioned for me to follow him to the paint section after calling for someone named Larry to take over the cashier.

"New in town, aren't you? Bought the old Warren place?" I nodded in response to his questions.

"Well, welcome to Wild Turkey Island. I'm Billy Black."

I introduced myself to him, made meaningless small talk, and then thirty minutes later, he helped me carry all the paint and supplies out to the SUV.

I arrived back at the house and told Charlie that I'd gotten what he'd wanted.

"Excellent. What color did you pick out for your room?"

Like he had to ask. He knew that green was my favorite color. "I got a nice cucumber color."

Several hours later, with Jasper's help, my room was painted, the windows open and fans blowing air throughout the house. Charlie had stopped in to tell me that he had an electrician coming out to fix the AC the next day. Mrs. Warren had been in the hospital when the central AC in her house had gone out and no one had bothered to fix it.

By seven that evening, my room, the living room, and bathrooms had been cleaned and painted. The Cullens had left, so Charlie and I began to carry in boxes and furniture. The first order of business was putting my bed together. I couldn't wait to sleep in my own bed. But more importantly, I couldn't wait for the AC to be fixed.

"Bells! Come help me with this couch would you?" Charlie called to me.

Heading out of my room, I found him on the porch struggling to get the couch into the house. It took some maneuvering, but we managed. The living room was now painted a cream color that went well with the tan carpet that had already been in there.

A little after nine, I fell into my bed, exhausted.

* * *

"C'mon, Bells. Time to get up. We've got a lot more work to do today and without the help of Carlisle and his boys," Charlie said, waking me up.

I groaned as I rolled over and slowly opened my eyes. _Oh, yeah._ I was in Alabama. Letting out a sigh, I got up, took a quick shower, and headed into the kitchen.

Charlie was behind the counter pouring two bowls of cereal. Taking one from him, I shoved a few spoon fulls of Lucky Charms into my mouth as I listened to him detail our day.

"So, the electrician guy will be here by ten to get the AC up and running. We need to finish cleaning the kitchen and emptying out my bedroom before we can start painting in those areas."

I nodded before asking, "What about Internet and cable? They do have those, right?"

"Yes, Bella. They have both. We live on an island that gets a lot of tourists, not in the boonies. I got the name of the cable provider, and they'll be out by the end of the week."

I let out a sigh of relief. It was bad enough that I had no cell service, but if I had to go without Internet or cable, I'd probably wither away and die.

"And tomorrow or the next day, we'll get new cell phones through a different provider. I didn't really care for the guys that we had to begin with. Now, after we're done painting and putting stuff away, why don't you go check out the library. I'm sure they have Internet access."

That was a great idea. Only problem, I soon discovered, was that Wild Turkey Island didn't have a public library.

"What do you mean there's no library?" I asked Billy Black seeing as how I'd stopped in to ask him directions.

"I mean there ain't a library here. Closest library is in Riverton and that's about forty miles away."

I stared at him dumbfounded. _How was I supposed to live without a library? _ Books were my life.

"But … is there at least someplace I can use the Internet?"

"Sure thing kid. Loon Cafe on the corner has WiFi, providing that you got you're own laptop."

_Fuck me._ Heaving a sigh, I headed back to the Tahoe and, noticing I had a few bars, gave Angela a call.

"Bella!" she squealed. "Oh, my God! I miss you so much! How is it?"

I played with a strand of my hair as I leaned against the side of the SUV. "It sucks. My cell reception is spotty, they don't have a library, and it's so fucking hot."

"Are there rednecks walking alligators while drinking cheap beer?"

I let out a snort. "Not that I've seen. Granted, we just got here yesterday. Although, it's not quite as bad as I imagined. Wild Turkey is an island, so I've got beaches and water all around me."

"Ooo girl! You know what that means, right? Hot guys in swimsuits everyday of the year! Lucky bitch!" she exclaimed.

I hadn't thought of it like that. "Yeah, but with those hot guys come hot girls in skimpy bikinis, so it's not like I stand a chance anyway."

Angela and I talked for a few more minutes before my phone beeped, alerting me that it was dying. We said our goodbyes and I hung up. I figured I'd drive back to The Shack, as I dubbed it, grab my laptop and head over to the Loon Cafe.

I pulled into the drive behind an unfamiliar truck and headed inside.

"Hey, kiddo. Didn't expect to see you back so soon," Charlie said as he measured something on the wall.

"There's no library here, Dad! I have to drive like forty miles to get to one. However, there is a cafe with WiFi, so I'm going to grab my laptop and head over there. I'll be back in a bit."

A few minutes later, I walked into the Loon Cafe, grabbed a small table and ordered a slice of Key Lime Pie. I felt it would be rude to use their WiFi and not eat anything.

_Oh, sweet, sweet, Internet. How I'd missed you._ First things first, I logged into my Facebook account. I had missed so much in the past three days. My wall was covered with farewells from my friends, and that made me miss them all the more. I hadn't been Miss Popularity in school, but I'd had a great group of friends and a boyfriend. He'd broken up with me the week before Charlie told me we were moving.

After catching up on things in Seattle, I logged into my email. I had several emails from Renee, one from Jess and one from my ex, Jack. I deleted the email from Jack. I could care less what he had to say and opened the email from Angela.

_Bells! I miss you so fucking much and it's only been like two days. This totally blows. Text me as often as possible. Assuming, of course, that you get cell service out in the boondocks. And for the love of god, please, please, please, don't date and get married to some redneck. That would be horrible._

_Ttyl,_

_Angela_

I sent her a quick response, despite the fact that we'd just talked, and assured her that I wouldn't date or marry a redneck. After sending it, I opened up the email from Renee.

_Hi, Baby._

_I know that you're mad at both me and your father, but please understand. Things hadn't been well for quite a while. I know that you're upset about having to move, but I think it's for the best. Think of it as a new start for both of you. _

_I'd like for you to come out and visit me and Phil once you're settled in. You'd love L.A. There's so much to do and the beaches are beautiful. Love you!_

_Mom_

I still didn't understand why she hadn't let me go live with her in L.A. I was much more suited to the big city than to tiny Southern towns.

I didn't feel like writing her back at the moment as I was still mad at her. I logged out of my email, closed my laptop, and dug into the pie the waitress set in front of me. And it was some good freaking pie. After paying my tab, I headed out the door and ran into someone coming in.

"Watch where you're going!" he snarled.

_Ah, Edward. _Now, my day was complete. "Watch you're attitude. Just because you're all pissed off at your girlfriend, doesn't mean you can take it out on every girl you see," I snarled right back.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" he growled.

"Whatever," I said, pushing him out of my way and heading toward the parking lot. I didn't know what it was about him that I found attractive, especially considering what a jerk he was.

I was about to climb into the SUV when Billy Black wandered over. We chatted for a few minutes, and I saw Edward leaving the cafe with some Styrofoam boxes in hand.

"Oh, Edward. Have you met one of Wild Turkey' newest residents? This is Bella Swan. Bella, this is Edward Cullen. He's our star quarterback," Billy told me.

"Yeah, we've met," he said before saying goodbye and leaving. Mr. Black frowned and explained to me that Edward wasn't normally so rude. I didn't bother to comment.

I wasn't quite ready to head back, so I decided to walk around for a bit. There wasn't a whole lot to see. I crossed Lemon Drive and headed down the sidewalk. I passed the Pink Shrimp Hair Salon and couldn't contain a giggle at the name. That was horrible. I hoped they were better at cutting hair than they were at coming up with a name for their shop. As I began to walk past it, two girls came out of the shop.

"Oh, my God, Vicky. Did I tell you? Alice Brandon is going up against me for the Miss Wild Turkey title!" a blond girl said before they burst out laughing.

"I almost feel sorry for her. She's going to make a total fool of herself," the other girl, sporting a head full of curly red hair, said.

I wasn't sure how many Alices were in the town of Wild Turkey, but I was willing to bet it wasn't many. _Could this be the Alice that Jasper was crushing on?_ I didn't have long to dwell on it because the giggly girls spotted me and began walking my way. _Well, shit. _ I didn't want to deal with giggly Southern belles.

"Well, hi there. You must be the new girl," the blond said, holding out a hand. "I'm Tanya Denali."

I took her hand and shook it, then wiped my hand off on my jeans. "Bella Swan."

"Well, it's just wonderful to meet you. This is my best friend, Victoria Hunter," she said, introducing the redhead to me. I gave her a nod.

"Are you coming to the Wild Turkey parade next week?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"You should. That way you can meet all the right people. You wouldn't want to start off the new school year hanging out with the wrong crowd."

If Tanya thought I was going to hang out with her, she was way off base. I was tempted to borrow the line from _Harry Potter,_ where Harry tells Draco that he can tell the wrong sort for himself. Instead, I made a noncommittal sound. Thankfully, the girls' attention was drawn elsewhere within a matter of seconds.

"Eddie!" Tanya screeched, causing me to flinch.

"Hey, Tanya," came the velvet voice of the asshole, and I watched as she threw her arms around him and planted a huge kiss on him.

_Of course._ _Didn't that just figure. _ The one guy in Wild Turkey that I find myself sort of attracted to is not only an asshole, but an asshole with a girlfriend. Tanya went to introduce us, but Edward interrupted her telling her that we'd already met.

"When was that?"

"Yesterday at my house," I replied at the same time he said the cafe. I didn't understand the glare that he shot me, but I watched as Tanya's eyes grew cold.

"I see. And just why were you over at her house?"

"Daddy roped me into helping them move. Jasper and Emmett were there as well."

"Hm. We need to get going, Edward. I think Daddy wants to talk to you about the parade next week. It was nice meeting you, Bella," Tanya said and then the three of them walked away.

Rolling my eyes, I walked back toward the car and headed back to the house. I grinned when I saw that the AC van had been replaced by a cable/Internet van. _Finally_! No more living in the dark ages. Sure, it had only been a few days, but that was way too many.

I started up the walk and noticed a movement in the brush beside the house. Quickly, I started up the porch steps when I heard rustling behind me. Slowly, I turned around and found the ugliest looking bird coming near the steps.

Fear froze me, and all I could think was that I was going to be attacked by a turkey. I wasn't sure I could outrun a turkey, but I could sure out scream one. I let out a long and loud scream, feeling relief when I heard footsteps come running toward me.

"Bells! What's wrong?" Charlie asked as he came onto the porch. With a shaky hand, I pointed toward it.

"Oh, that's just Musket. He tends to get out of his compound and wander around," the cable guy said from behind Charlie.

Whirling around, I turned to face the guy. "Are you freaking kidding me?! You let a wild turkey just wander around throughout town? Are you insane? That thing probably gobbles up children on a daily basis!"

With a laugh, the guy pushed passed me and headed toward it. I almost hoped that Musket took a bite out of him. The guy made some shooing motions and almost as if sighing, Musket slowly headed back across the yard.

I turned to look at Charlie. "I think Musket's owner is in need of a talk. I don't want to get eaten by a wild turkey."

"Don't worry. I'll be having a talk with him," he assured me.

I headed inside to my room where I slammed the door shut and flopped down on my bed. In the two days that I'd been in Wild Turkey, I'd encountered hot guys, jerks, stuck up Southern belles, and a wild turkey. Yeah, my life completely sucked.

* * *

**a/n: Like I said, it's a bit on the rough side, but if you like it leave me a review. If you hate, leave a review but try and be polite about it. Trolls aren't tolerated.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow, gang. Thanks for the reviews! I'm a complete failure when it comes to replying to them, but know that they are read and appreciated. Once again, unbeta'd so mistakes are all mine. **

* * *

I woke up the next morning feeling way better than I had the day before; definitely feeling a bit more rested. I think sleeping in my own bed with my fan on, and the AC running had really helped up. Stretching, I noticed how quiet the how the house was, and it freaked me out a bit. I was used to the noises of the city, and now I was surrounded by quiet for the most part.

Hopping out of bed, I took a quick shower then headed into the kitchen and found a note from Charlie informing me that he'd had to go into work. _Great_. I was stuck with no mode or means of transportation and my closest friend was over twenty-five hundred miles away. With a sigh, I poured myself a cup of lukewarm coffee and decided to take it for a walk. I grabbed my phone and keys, and shoved my feet into a worn out pair of Toms.

As I stepped out onto the porch I prayed that Musket wouldn't make an appearance. _I mean, seriously. What kind of town allowed man-eating turkeys to wander about?_ It was beyond ridiculous.

A quick glance around the yard showed no signs of the crazed turkey, so I headed down the driveway and took a left out onto the road. I walked slowly, taking the time to get a good look at my surroundings. Sand and trees lined the side of the road, and I grimaced at how hot it already was. The heat was going to kill me.

I continued my walk and as I rounded a curve in the road, I was suddenly met with a breathtaking view. White sand, palm trees, and the sparkling blue of the Gulf of Mexico. For a moment, all I could do was stand there and take in the view. As I moved forward, I saw houses scattered along the road, and I decided to keep walking until I came to a path that led to the beach. There wasn't a no trespassing sigh, so I figured it was okay to walk onto the beach. I quickly toed off my shoes and picked them up, carrying them in one hand with my cup of coffee in the other. I walked until I was near the shoreline, and then I stood there and watched the waves crashing.

"This is private property," a steely, yet velvet voice said from behind me.

I let out a sigh. Of course my morning would be ruined by an asshole. Turning to face him, I almost lost the ability to speak. Assholes should not be allowed to look so good. He had a fantastic case of sex-hair going on, he was shirtless and wearing a pair of jogging shorts and running shoes. _Did I mention he was sweaty? _

"Sorry," I told him. "I wasn't aware this was private property. I was taking a walk, saw a path, and took it." He continued to glare at me before letting out a huff.

"Chill out, dude. I'll leave. It's not that big a deal. Don't go getting your panties in a twist," I muttered as I brushed past him.

"Forget it. It's fine. Stay and enjoy the view. I've got to get going anyway," he mumbled before taking back off down the beach.

I was left standing there confused, but since he'd told me to stay and enjoy the view I would. I sat down on the sand and closed my eyes for a few minutes. While I missed the hustling and bustling of the city, I had to admit nothing but the sounds of the ocean was pretty peaceful. Unfortunately, my peacefulness didn't last long.

"Bella! Hey, Bella! That is you, right?" a loud voice boomed from nearby, and I opened my eyes to see Emmett and Jasper walking my way.

"Yes, it's me. Who else would I be?" I asked as they approached. Emmett shot me a grin and shrugged his shoulders.

"What brings you to our beach?" he asked, plopping his huge self down next to me.

"I was wandering and stumbled across the path back there," I said, pointing toward where I'd come from. "I didn't see a no trespassing sign, so I came down here. It wasn't until I ran into Edward that he mentioned this was private property."

"No worries, kiddo. You can hang out here anytime you want," Emmett said with a grin.

"Was Edward at least nicer today?" Jasper asked. I shrugged and muttered that Edward had been polite enough, but I was fairly certain neither brother believed me. I wasn't a very convincing liar.

We sat and talked for a while, and I let out a sad sigh when I realized my coffee cup was empty. Noticing my forlorn look at my cup, Jasper told me to come with them back to their house and get a refill. That was an offer I wasn't about to refuse.

The three of us walked a little ways down the beach until a massive house came into view, and I was sure my jaw dropped and that I drooled a bit. The house was freaking amazing!

"It's an old plantation house. There used to be a carriage house and slave quarters as well, but they were destroyed during a hurricane when Dad was a kid. This place has been in our family for generations," Jasper explained as he opened the door and gestured me in.

Tentatively, I stepped across the threshold, making sure to wipe my feet off as best as I could. The last thing I wanted was to track sand all over their house. The boys gave me a quick tour of the house, and by the time we made it back downstairs I was in shock. I'd never been in a house so grand before.

I followed them into the living room and found myself drawn to some pictures hanging on the wall. There was one picture of just Carlisle and Jasper, and that's when I realized that Jasper didn't look anything like Emmett or Edward. I didn't want to be nosy, but I couldn't help but comment on it.

"We're actually stepbrothers," Jasper informed me. "My folks divorced when I was two, and Edward and Emmett's dad died when they were younger. My dad married their mom when Edward and I were five. But honestly, we just think of ourselves as brothers."

"My parents just got divorced," I told them, resentment and anger evident in my voice. "That's why we moved here. Charlie thought a change of scenery would be good for us."

"Maybe it will be," Jasper said lightly. "Wild Turkey is a great place to live. We've got warm weather, beaches, and hot girls."

I let out a small laugh and informed him that hot girls didn't appeal to me. Emmett made a "that's too bad" comment, and I rolled my eyes at him. Typical teenage boy.

Ten minutes later, I was sitting in their kitchen drinking a hot cup of coffee that Emmett had made. I found that I really liked them both and enjoyed their company. Too bad the same couldn't be said for their other brother who came in from his run a few minutes later. He looked less than pleased to see me sitting at his kitchen table, but I tried not to care. The rest of his family didn't seem to have a problem with me.

I stayed a while before excusing myself to answer my phone when Charlie called. He wanted me to meet him in town for brunch.

"Thanks for allowing me into your home," I told the boys. "I've got to run though. Charlie wants to meet at some place called The Flamingo for brunch."

"The Flamingo has great food!" Emmett enthused. "Do you need a ride?" he asked. I shook my head and told him I could walk although I had no idea how far away it was.

"It's a good four miles from here. Oh, hey. I've got an idea. Edward has to head into work at the country club in a few. He can give you a ride," Emmett said, volunteering Edward. I barely held back a groan. Like Edward need another reason to dislike me.

I waited in the living room as Emmett told Edward that I needed a ride to the diner. I didn't hear what all Edward said, but it was said in a heated voice. Finally, Edward stomped into the living room.

"Let's go," he said curtly, heading out the door, not waiting for me. I slowly walked behind him and watched as he made his way over to a shiny Volvo.

"Look, Edward. I'll just walk. Point me in the right direction, and I'll get out of your hair." He gave me a scowl before telling me to get my ass in the car. I yanked the door open, climbed in, and slammed the door shut as hard as I could. Seriously, I would've been fine with walking.

The drive to The Flamingo was spent in hostile silence until I couldn't take it anymore.

"What's your problem with me?" I asked.

"I don't have a problem with you. The world doesn't revolve around city girls, you know."

"Obviously you do have a problem with me. I've met you, what, three times? And in those three times, you've been a complete jerk. Your brothers don't seem to have an issue with me, so I don't know why you do."

"Here's some advice for you, Yankee. Stay away from Jasper. He doesn't need to get tangled up with you," he warned.

_So, that's what this was about? _ He was afraid I had the hots for his brother.

"Relax, Edward. I don't have a crush on Jasper. Or Emmett. Neither of them are my type. Besides, Jasper's crushing on some girl named Alice. I just happen to think your brothers are nice guys. They've been the only really nice people I've met since I got here."

I watched as his tense posture seemed to relax a bit, but I was a bit startled when he pulled the Volvo over on the side of the road.

"I guess I owe you an apology then."

"No shit," I responded, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said, running his fingers through his hair. "I worry about Jasper sometimes. He got his heart broken by some city girl a few summers ago. Really fucked him up. I'm glad to know that he's moving on, although Alice certainly isn't the gal I'd picture him with."

As apologies went, it was a lame one, but I was willing to let it go. School would be starting up at the end of August and the last thing I wanted, was to go in with a set of enemies already in place. At least that's what I told myself. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was so freaking sexy.

"Yeah, whatever," I replied.

He let out a sigh as he pulled the truck back onto the road. "I really am sorry. I'm not normally such an ass. I swear."

"Hmph. Could've fooled me. You seem to be a natural at it," I told him, trying not to smile.

"Ha. Can we start over?" he asked, shooting a glance at me. God, I was a sucker for a pretty face. I rolled my eyes but nodded yes.

"Welcome to Wild Turkey, Alabama. My name is Edward Cullen, and I'm the nicest guy you'll ever meet when I'm not being an ass," he said with a grin.

"Bella Swan. Former resident of Seattle who wishes more than anything that she was back there."

"Why did you move, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My parents got divorced," I told him, keeping my explanation short. There was a lot more to it than that, but I wasn't ready to expand on it with him or anyone else at the moment.

"That sucks, but Wild Turkey ain't all that bad. Sure, we're a small town in Alabama, but we've got the coast with it's pretty beaches. We've got terrific food, girls in short shorts, and one helluva football team. Okay, well actually we don't have a football team. Closest football team is in Riverton where we go to school," he told me as he pulled to a stop in front of the diner.

I turned to look at him, clearly having misunderstood what he'd just said. "Wait. You're telling me that there's no high school here?"

He shook his head. "The island only has an elementary school."

I just stared at him, and he began to fidget. "What?" he asked.

"You're messing with me, right? I mean, you can't seriously tell me there's no high school here.

"Nope. The closest high school is in Riverton and it takes roughly forty minutes or so with traffic. One way, that is."

I was flabbergasted. I lived on an island without a library and now I was going to have to drive forty miles one way to get to school. Wild Turkey was turning out to be worse than I thought it would be.

I managed to mumble out a thanks for the ride before climbing out and making my way into the diner. I found Charlie sitting in a booth in the back. He looked up as I flopped down on the vinyl seat.

"Hey, kiddo."

"Hey, Dad."

"Was the walk into town too bad? I know this place is kinda far away from the house, but I was out this way."

"Oh, um … I caught a ride from Edward. I went for a walk this morning and ended up on the Cullen property. Did you know that their house is on the beach? It's pretty cool."

After we placed our orders, I ranted to Charlie about the fact that the school and library were so far away. It was only when he mentioned that he was getting me a car that I stopped complaining.

"Now, it won't be anything fancy. We're not broke by any means, but I'm not made of money either."

I honestly didn't care what kind of car I got, as long as I had one.

"Sam, one of my deputies, told me that Billy Black is selling a truck that his son fixed up. We'll take a look at it after I get off work, okay?"

I told him that was fine with me as the waitress placed my order of burger and fries in front of me. I took a bite, moaning at the greasy goodness that was the cheeseburger.

I was finishing up my food, when I saw Tanya and Vicky walk in. They were walking close together, heads bent, whispering, but that stopped when they saw me. Then they started whispering furiously to each other. _Whatever. _ I didn't care what those two were saying about me, and I was pretty confident that they were talking about me. It's not like there was much to say about me anyway. I hadn't been in town that long.

I rode with Charlie back to the police station where he introduced me to Sam Uley, a deputy named Paul Lahote, and Sam's wife, Emily, who ran the office and dispatch. She seemed nice and was quick to welcome me to town.

"We have a daughter your age. Her name's Leah. She's out of town visiting her grandparents in Mobile, but she'll be back next week. I think the two of you would get along just fine," she told me.

Pretty much backed into a corner, I agreed to meet her daughter. It wasn't that I didn't want to make friends, I did. I just wanted to make them on my own time and decide if they were the right friends for me.

Waving goodbye, I left the police station and made my way back down Lemon Drive. There was a park next to the bay, so I headed there and found a spot on a picnic table. There were three elderly women sitting on a bench next to the water's edge, and I couldn't help but listen to them gossip.

"Did you get a good look at him? Why, somebody must have beaten him with the ugly stick. I don't even think his poor Mama could've loved him," an older woman was saying.

"I know. It doesn't help that he's dumber than a bucket of rocks," her companion replied.

Now, I was smart enough to figure out what they were saying, but dear lord. _Couldn't they just come out and say the dude was ugly and stupid? _

The longer I sat there, the more I became convinced that I was living on another planet. I heard phrases such as: busy as a stump-tailed cow in fly time, in a coon's age, and scarce as hen's teeth. For the life of me, I had no fucking clue what they were talking about. I was going to need a freaking dictionary in order to understand the people of Wild Turkey.

I hung out texting Angela and some other friend from back in Seattle until Charlie called me asking me to meet him at Black's Hardware. Getting up, I made my way down the street and found Billy and a young guy standing next to an old red car.

"Hello, Bella," Mr. Black said as I approached. I gave a little wave, saying hi back.

"This is my son, Jake. Jake, this is Bella Swan. Her dad's the new deputy in town."

Jake was gorgeous. Tall, copper-colored skin, dark hair and eyes. I swore there was something in the water, 'cause all of the guys I'd seen so far were freaking hot.

"Welcome to Wild Turkey, Bella," Jake said, taking my hand in his and pressing a kiss to it. And apparently, a lot of them were charming as well.

"Thank you," I replied as Charlie came walking over. He and Billy seemed to hit it off right away, talking about cars, fishing, and sports.

"So, uh … how are you liking Wild Turkey?" Jake asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I shrugged. "It's different."

He nodded. "Yeah, it is. We moved here when I was five. Before that we lived in Albany, New York. This place isn't so bad once you get used to it. I promise," he told me with a soft smile. I couldn't help but smile back. He was cute and nice, and I could see myself being somewhat interested in him.

"Bells, this is the car that Billy's selling," Charlie interrupted, pointing to a bright red station wagon-looking car with wooden panels along the side. I was in love with it instantly.

"She's a 1951 Ford Woodie Wagon. I just replaced the engine and the lights," Jake began. "She's only got twenty thousand miles on her, but I wouldn't recommend going faster than fifty in her."

Money exchanged hands, titles were signed over, and keys were given to me. _Holy crap! _ Just like that, I had a car. Whoohoo for freedom!

* * *

_So much for freedom_, I thought to myself three days later. Sure, I had a car that ran and a full tank of gas, but I had no money to go anywhere. Sure, I had some savings, but that was to be used for college. I let out a huff as I realized I was going to have to get a job.

I had no idea if there were even any jobs for teenagers in Wild Turkey, but I figured I'd at least better find out. I got in my car and headed toward the police station. Maybe Mrs. Uley would have a clue.

"Good morning, dear. I'm afraid you just missed your daddy."

"That's okay. Actually, I was wondering if you know about any job openings? I desperately need some cash, and I had a job back in Seattle."

"The Webster's are looking for a babysitter," she said, but I quickly shook my head no. I didn't like kids at all.

"Hmm … give me a second, honey," she told me as she picked up the phone and dialed someone.

While she talked, I looked at the pictures on the walls and scanned through an old copy of the Wild Turkey News.

"Okay, so I have a few options for you," Mrs. Uley said, gaining my attention. "The Flamingo is looking for a waitress, the campground store is looking for a cashier, and Island Rentals is also looking for a cashier."

She wrote down the names and addresses of each place, and I thanked her as I took it. My first stop was at The Flamingo where I was turned down as soon as they learned I had no waitress experience. I wasn't all that surprised. That left me with the campground and the jet ski and boat rental place. I hit up both, filled out applications, did interviews then and there, and was told they'd call me.

Sure they would. Realizing I had nothing else to do, I gave Charlie a call and told him I was heading to Riverton to hit up the library.

"No you're not. I don't want you driving to Riverton by yourself. We'll go this weekend, and if you handle the drive okay, you can go by yourself," he said.

"But, Dad …"

"No, Bella. Just wait."

"You do realize that my high school is in Riverton, don't you? Are you planning on driving me to school everyday?"

I heard him let out a low growl on the other end. "Did you not just hear me? I said, once I see that you're fine handling the drive, you can go on your own."

Scowling, I hung up the phone and decided to just drive around. I turned onto Alabama Boulevard and headed west. I drove for miles and watched as the trees lessened and beach houses began popping up one after the other. The further I drove, the more beaches I saw until I came to an area with very few houses and lots and lots of sand. I followed the road until it dead ended at a parking lot. I pulled my car into a spot and got out, the warm wind whipping my hair all around.

I shoved my unruly hair into a ponytail, locked the car, and followed the wooden walk down to the beach.

White sand stretched for miles and miles and there wasn't anyone there. I walked down a ways, kicked off my shoes, and dipped my toes into the water. The water was warm, but it felt nice. I almost wished that I'd brought a bathing suit with me. Rolling up my jeans until they were just below my knees, I waded a bit further into the water. At that moment, I didn't mind Alabama so much.

A wave came up and splashed water all over my jeans and I decided to sit on the beach for a bit. I should've brought some sunblock with me, but I promised myself I wouldn't stay out in the sun too long. Just long enough to dry my feet and jeans. As I was sitting there, I took out my phone and snapped some pics and was immensely pleased to see that I actually had bars. After taking the pics, I uploaded them to my Facebook.

Brushing the now dry sand from my feet, I put my shoes on and climbed back into the car. I headed back, sighing in relief as I walked into the air conditioned house. The place was starting to look like home. Our furniture had replaced Mrs. Warren's and Charlie had put some of my artwork up on the walls as well as some outdoorsy pictures. You know, a guy fishing in a stream, some deer in the woods … that kind of thing.

I headed into my room and decided that since the library was so far away, that I should invest in an e-reader of sorts. I checked prices and read reviews before settling on a Kindle. I placed my order, trying not to wince at the cost. It wasn't overly expensive, but my savings account wasn't all that big.

I'd worked a summer job in Seattle the previous year and had managed to save up some money. I didn't want to go to college and end up thousands upon thousands of dollars in debt. And if I was going to go to Udub with my friends in two years, I needed to really start saving. Out of state tuition wasn't cheap. I just hoped that one of the jobs I applied for would come through.

* * *

The ringing of my cell phone woke me up the following morning.

"Hello?" I asked in a groggy voice.

"May I speak to Isabella Swan?"

"This is she," I replied, trying to wake up.

"Good morning, Isabella. This is Lydia Newton, from Newton's Campground. I was wanting to offer you the position of part-time camp store cashier if you were still interested?"

_Did I want to work part-time at a campground store? _No, but the other place hadn't called, so I told Mrs. Newton yes.

"Fantastic. Why don't you come in around nine and we'll get you started."

I agreed before rolling over in bed. A glance at my clock told me it was ten after eight. Grumbling, I got in the shower, got dressed, and grabbed a Pop-Tart for breakfast.

"You're up early, Bells," Charlie said as I made my way out the door.

"Yeah. I got a job working at Newton's Campground in their store. It's part-time and just until school starts."

"Well keep me posted. Let me know what hours you'll be working, okay?"

I nodded, then got into my car which I named Magnolia, and started toward the campground. Within five minutes, I was pulling into a parking spot in front of the store, and I quickly got out. I didn't want to be late and make a bad impression. As I opened the door to the campground office I was greeted by a golden Labrador.

"Down, Mike," Mrs. Newton told the dog. "Sorry about him. He loves meeting new people. Why don't you follow me back to the office?"

Patting Mike on the head, I followed Mrs. Newton into her office and began the tedious task of filling out paperwork. Twenty minutes later I was done and she handed me a schedule.

"You'll be working Monday through Friday, eight to one. My husband or I will work the store on the weekends. If you need to change your schedule or switch shifts, let me know. The afternoons during the week are covered by Alice Brandon. She's a sweet girl and will be happy to help you out. Why don't you go change and we'll start you off today, if you'd like?"

Nodding in agreement, I took the schedule and the polo with the Newton Campground logo on it and went to change in the bathroom.

"Excellent. It fits. You can put your stuff in here," she said, gesturing to a tiny break room. I put my shirt and car keys in a small locker before following her out to the front.

"You've worked a cash register before, correct?"

I nodded.

"Fantastic. Then this won't take much time at all," she said.

Forty minutes later, I was flying solo. It wasn't like there was a lot to learn. My job would be helping customers as they came into the store and putting away inventory. The first two hours passed without a single customer, and then a little after eleven an older man walked in.

"Morning, sunshine," he greeted with a smile.

I couldn't help but smile back. "Good morning, sir. How are you?"

"Alive and kickin' so I cain't complain," he said with a slow drawl.

We chatted while he picked out some bait, and I did my best not to make a face when he placed the tub of worms on the counter. I rang up the purchase, gave him the total, handed him his change, and wished him the best of luck catching something.

As I sat behind the counter I flipped through an old magazine, looking up as the bell above the door rang. A tiny, dark haired girl with huge blue eyes entered, and I knew from Jasper's description that she was Alice.

"Hi, I'm Alice," she chirped, coming straight over to me.

"Bella," I said, watching as her face went from friendly to hostile in a matter of seconds.

"Oh. Right. The new girl in town," she spat out as she took the second stool behind the counter and moved it as far away from me as possible.

Not caring for her attitude, I confronted her. "I don't even know you, yet somehow I've managed to piss you off. Care to clue me in?"

She stared at her nails for a minute. "Forget it."

"No, I won't forget it. I've been here all of four days, and I've gotten so much attitude it's beyond ridiculous. First it was Edward, although he did apologize, and then it was his girlfriend and her friend, and now you. Is it because I'm from Seattle or what?"

"I said forget it!"

"Whatever," I said with an eye roll, thinking it was going to be a long summer if I had to keep dealing with people and their crappy attitudes. We sat there in hostile silence, and I kept glancing at the clock. I still had an hour to go before I could leave and so far, it was the longest hour of my life. Then the bell rang as the door opened and in walked Jasper.

"Well, heck. Had I known that I was gonna get to see two beautiful ladies today, I mighta dressed up," he said with a grin.

I rolled my eyes at him. "How's it hanging, Jasper?"

He gave me a cocky smirk. "It's hanging just fine."

Ew. "That's gross. What are you? Twelve?"

Ignoring me, he turned to Alice and said, "Hey, Miss Alice. You look mighty pretty this afternoon." She looked up and gave him a glare before excusing herself and heading to the break room leaving Jasper looking bewildered.

"What in tar-nation is that all about?"

That's when it hit me. The whole reason she was being so mean toward me. She, like Edward, thought I had designs on Jasper. Sighing, I told him to give me a minute and to watch the register.

"But don't steal anything. I can't afford to get fired my first day," I warned.

I walked quickly to the break room and found Alice sitting on an old chair, clenching her tiny fists.

"Listen up, Alice. I think I need to clear something up with you. While I think Jasper is quite cute and a very nice guy, I'm not crushing on him. He's not my type."

She looked up at me and I could see she didn't quite believe me. "The two of you were all flirty a few minutes ago," she commented.

"I have a feeling that Jasper's naturally a flirt. He's hard not to flirt with, but like I said, I'm not interested in him. Besides, I know for a fact that he's interested in you," I blurted, then winced. I probably shouldn't have let that slip. Then again, the look on her face when I said that, made me think it hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

"Seriously? He likes me?" she squeaked.

I nodded. "He mentioned it to me the first day I met him when I asked him if he had a girlfriend."

Apparently, that was all it took for Alice to get over her misplaced anger. She threw her arms around me, begged for my forgiveness, and when it was given, danced her way out of the break room and toward Jasper. Grinning, I followed her out and leaned against the wall, watching as she approached him.

"So, what's this I hear about you liking me?" she asked, causing Jasper to turn and shoot me a dirty look. I mouthed sorry to him, although I really wasn't.

"Well, darlin' … you're real sweet and I do like you a lot. I was wonderin' if you'd go to the Wild Turkey dance and parade with me?"

She threw herself at him, wrapping her tiny arms around his waist. "I'd love to. Although, I should let you know that I'm actually competing for Miss Wild Turkey."

Jasper's eyebrows raised before he grinned. "Well damn, sugar. You'll definitely get my vote. Somebody needs to knock Tanya off her pedestal."

Jasper hung around and talked for a while more before bidding us both a goodbye. As soon as he left, Alice grabbed me in a hug, apologizing over and over. Now, that she wasn't being a bitch, I found myself really liking her, and knew we would become friends.

"Alice, it's fine. Really. You're forgiven."

She finally let me go and immediately began talking about the dress she was wearing for the pageant, her hair and makeup, and finally her talent.

"You will come to the parade, won't you?" she asked me.

"Sure. I'd love to see you put Tanya in her place."

"You've met her, huh?" she asked, finally sitting still for a moment.

"Barely. She and that red-haired girl were talking about how they couldn't believe that you were competing in the pageant. That, and she got all territorial when I mentioned that Edward had been at my house."

"Hold up," Alice said, putting a hand in the air. "When and why was Edward at your house?"

"My dad is best friends with Carlisle. They went to college together and kept in touch. So, Carlisle recruited Jasper, Edward, and Emmett to help us move and shit."

Alice let out a snicker. "I bet Tanya wasn't happy about that. She's very territorial of Edward. She doesn't like it when he talks to other girls or goes places without her."

"I can see why. He's quite the hottie," I said, before slapping a hand over my mouth.

Alice's eyes grew wide as she stared at me. "You have a crush on Edward!"

I shook my head. "No, no, no. He's just a cute, nice guy when he's not being an ass."

I spent the next few minutes filling Alice in on the assholish tendencies that Edward had had toward me. A little after one, I left and headed out to my car almost to get run over by Emmett.

"Howdy, Bella! Whatcha' doin' here?" he asked after giving me a hug. I returned his hug and told him that I'd gotten a job at the store.

"Ah, so are you working with Crazy Tink?"

"Who?"

He let out a belly laugh. "Alice. She's a bit hyper and she's tiny," he explained.

"Does she know that you call her that?"

"Of course. We've only known each other forever."

After saying goodbye to Emmett, I climbed into Magnolia and drove back home only to pull into the drive and find not one, not two, but three turkeys milling around. I slowed down not wanting to run them over, but I also wasn't getting out of the car to scare them off. I honked a few times and they finally moved out of the way.

Making sure that the turkeys were gone, I climbed out of the car and looked around our yard. The grass was dry and sparse in some places, not to mention there were a ton of trees. I decided then and there that something needed to done about our yard.

Getting back in my car, I headed to Black's Hardware and Grocery, and twenty minutes later, I walked out with an arm full of flowers. I'd gotten some Daylilies, Coreopsis, and some Yellow Iris.

I was relieved to see that there weren't any turkeys lurking about when I pulled back into the drive. I left the plants in the back of the car as I ran inside to change into some old clothes.

By the time, Charlie arrived home, I'd planted the flowers along the walk from the driveway to the house.

"Hey, Bells. This looks really nice."

"Thanks. I wanted to spruce things up a bit."

Over dinner that night, I told him about my job, about Alice and the whole Jasper misunderstanding, and about the cute Edward. Some might find it odd that I would admit to my dad that I found a boy cute, but I'd always been able to talk to Charlie about stuff. Renee had a tendency to focus on herself and only tended to hear what she wanted to hear.

As I checked my email before bed that night, I realized I was going to have to respond to my mother's email at some point, but I couldn't bring myself to do it right then. While I was angry at both of my parents, a majority of my anger was directed toward my mother. Closing down my laptop, I climbed into bed, knowing that tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

* * *

**a/n: Alright gang, let me have it. I'll see you in two weeks. I'm on vacation until then and won't have my laptop with me.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! I'm back from my vacation up north where I had a pretty good time despite some minor setbacks. Now, this chapter is a bit shorter than the others so I decided to post it today. I'll be updating again on Friday. **

**Once again, all mistakes are my own.**

* * *

The rest of the week passed quickly and Alice and I quickly became good friends. And let me tell you, it felt nice to have a friend who was a girl. Jasper, Emmett, and I hung out quite a bit, and they were both good friends, but I highly doubted they wanted to discuss the hotness that was their brother. Not that I spent a lot of time thinking or discussing Edward's hotness.

Thursday afternoon Jasper and Emmett stopped by the store right as my shift was ending and Alice's was beginning. I was immediately wrapped up in a huge Emmett hug while Jasper wrapped Alice up in a huge hug and planting a kiss on her cheeks, causing her to turn pink. They were so cute together even though Alice had told me she wasn't sure they were together together.

"What are you guys up to?" I asked.

"We've got a volleyball game on the beach in a few, but we wanted to stop in and invite you both to a clambake tonight at Pelican Beach at around six or so," Jasper said.

"Which one's Pelican Beach?" I asked.

"It's the long stretch of beach near the elementary school," Emmett informed me.

I must have still looked lost because Alice told me she'd pick me up. I'd never been to a clambake before, and I wasn't even sure I liked clams.

As soon as I got home, I began to freak out. Normally, I didn't care what I wore, but I had a feeling this clambake was going to my introduction to the kids of Wild Turkey. Several texts to Alice later, I felt a bit better and put on a pair of khaki shorts and a cute blue top that Mom had bought for me last year. At quarter to six, Alice rang our doorbell and after introducing her to Charlie, we were on our way.

"This'll be fun, Bella. You'll get a chance to meet some of the other kids that go to school with us. Oh, speaking of school, how are you planning on getting there? Is your dad driving you, are you driving you, do you want to carpool?" she asked, never stopping to take a breath.

"Um, I figured I'd drive myself, but I'm cool with carpooling."

"Sweet. We'll figure out all the details before school starts," she said as we pulled into the parking lot at Pelican Beach. Minutes later, we'd taken off our sandals and were making our way down the beach toward a group of kids.

"Hey, ya'll. This is Bella Swan. She just moved here from Washington. Bella, this is Lauren, Jessica, Ben, Tyler, Erik, and Jane."

I gave a little wave, not caring for the stares they were giving me or the nasty look that Lauren shot me. By the time we'd made the rounds, I'd been introduced to too many people and knew I wouldn't remember their names. I was also surprised at how many teenagers lived on the island and mentioned it to Alice.

"They don't all live here. Most of them live in the Riverton area. They just come out here for the parties and barbeques."

Ah. "Gotcha."

"The first group that I introduced you to are the ones that live here with us."

We walked along the beach, talking and getting to know one another before stopping in front of a large pit in the ground. The pit had a barbeque grate on top of it and it was covered with seaweed in layers on the rocks with husked corn, potatoes, and clams. I watched fascinated as they covered the grate with a tarp.

"What in the world are they doing?" I asked Alice.

She gave me an incredulous look. "Haven't you ever been to a clambake before?"

I shook my head.

"Oh, you're in for a treat. It takes about three hours for them to steam, so we'll have clams by nine. You'll like it."

As we stood by the pit, Jasper, Emmett, and Edward came moseying over. I watched as Jasper wrapped an arm around Alice's shoulders and whispered something in her ear. In that moment, I was filled with jealousy. I missed having a boyfriend. Not that the one I'd had before was all that great, but he'd been someone to go out with.

"Hey, Bella," Edward said quietly.

"Hi," I responded and then we stood there awkwardly before he asked me if I wanted a soda. I told him sure, and he came back a few minutes later and handed me an ice cold can.

"Are you settling in okay?" he asked as we stood around the pit.

I nodded. "Yeah, I am. It helps that I've got a job to keep me occupied and friends to talk to, especially Alice. She's something else," I said fondly.

"Yeah, she is. A little hyper at times though."

I let out a laugh. "I learned that right off the bat."

"Eddie! There you are! I've been looking all over for you," Tanya screeched as she approached us and wrapped her arms around him, effectively marking her territory.

I turned away, rolling my eyes at her overly blatant behavior. As much as I was crushing on Edward, I wasn't about to try and steal him from her. I wasn't that kind of girl.

Looking at the crowd, it seemed like all my friends had paired off. Alice was dancing with Jasper to a slow country song that was playing, Edward was with Clingy Tanya, and Emmett was talking to some model blonde. He caught my eye and motioned me over. Slowly, I walked through the sand toward Emmett and the supermodel. The look she was giving me terrified me to my core. She was one chick that I wouldn't want to mess with.

"Rosie, this is Bella Swan. She just moved here. Bella, this is Rosalie Hale."

I stuck out my hand, which she shook, and told her it was nice to meet her. After a few minutes, Emmett left to get Rosalie a drink, leaving the two of us alone. It was awkward to say the least. Finally, she broke the silence.

"Don't even think about fucking with my man."

I blinked at her bluntness. "Wasn't planning on it," I replied, taking a sip of my soda.

Then she startled the crap out of me by giving me a huge smile. "Well then, we'll get along just fine. How are you liking Wild Turkey so far?"

And just like that, we became friends. Once you got past her scariness, she was pretty awesome and Emmett seemed thrilled that we were getting along so well.

"I'm glad you guys are getting along," he told me after she'd left to go to the bathroom. "Rose can be a bit abrupt and doesn't make friends easily."

"I like her. She's really cool."

An hour later, the clambake was declared done, and I lined up with Emmett and Rose to get some food. I watched as a guy scooped clams, corn, shrimp, chourico, and potatoes onto a plate for me. Food in hand, I followed Emmett and Rose (which she'd insisted I call her) over to a large blanket where Alice and Jasper were sitting.

I got situated and took a good look at my plate. I couldn't remember if I'd ever eaten clams before and was totally unsure of how to go about eating them. Jasper must have seen my confusion.

"Just open the shell and take the meat out. Once you have it out, you see this black covering?" he asked. I nodded a bit grossed out.

"Just slide that off, dip it into this broth and into the butter, then swallow it. Don't attempt to chew it. It'll take forever."

I wrinkled my nose as I watched him swallow the piece of meat whole. It looked disgusting, but I decided to give it a try. I grimaced as I slid the black cover off the meat, then I dipped into the broth and butter, then took a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing," I muttered to everyone's amusement. Closing my eyes, I dropped the meat into my mouth and swallowed quickly. My eyes flew open at how good it actually was.

Emmett boomed out a laugh. "We'll make a Alabamian out of you yet."

Time passed quickly as we sat around eating and laughing. It wasn't until my phone beeped with a text from Angela that I realized that I hadn't thought about my friends back in Seattle in a while. Immediately, I felt guilty. I sent Angela a quick text letting her know that I was at a clambake and that I'd talk to her later.

"You okay?" Alice asked me.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. It was just a text from my best friend. I've been so caught up with work and whatnot that I haven't talked to her lately."

By eleven, the clambake had started to die down and people had begun to leave. I stayed behind to help clean up before saying goodnight to my friends. I felt a bit giddy at the fact that I actually had friends. One of my biggest fears about moving had been that I wouldn't make any. A little before midnight, Alice drove me home and told me she'd see me tomorrow.

"Hey, Bells," Charlie called out as I unlocked the door and entered the house. "How was the clambake?"

I plopped down next to him on the couch. "It was fun. I made a new friend."

Charlie told me how happy he was to see me making friends and settling in. Saying goodnight to him, I headed into my room and gave Angela a call.

"Oh, you want to talk to me now?" she said by way of answering.

I lay back on my bed and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Angela. I was out with some kids that I met."

"So, what? You make new friends and forget about your old ones?"

I barely held back a huff. When Angela got upset, she tended to go overboard.

"I didn't forget about you or anyone else," I hedged. I hadn't forgotten about them completely, so it wasn't a lie. "I've been busy with work and just settling in. I miss you guys."

"Hmph. What kind of a job do you have?"

We spent the next hour catching up with one another before we called it a night.

The next morning, Charlie woke me up at seven to let me know he was heading into town to make sure everything was set for the parade. I rolled over in my bed and slept for another thirty minutes before a phone call from Alice woke me up.

"Bella! I need your help!" she begged. Grumbling, I took a quick shower, grabbed some coffee and headed toward her house. Ten minutes later, I was greeted at the door by Mr. Brandon.

"She's in her room having a meltdown," he told me with a grin, pointing me toward Alice's room.

I knocked on her door and pushed it open, trying not to grin at the sight before me. Alice was standing in the middle of her room wearing a beautiful, if not lacy, pink gown while her hair stood up all over the place.

"Help!" she moaned. "I have no idea what to do with my hair!"

Seeing as how she had a pixie cut there wasn't a whole lot she could do with it, which I pointed out.

"Some help you are," she scowled, crossing her arms over her chest.

I held up my hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm no hairstylist. Why not ask Rose?"

Alice let out a gasp as she beamed at me. "That's a fantastic idea!"

Seconds later, she had her phone out and was talking to Rose in a madly fast voice. I always thought that Southerners talked slow, but not Alice. She talked so fast that I could barely comprehend what she was saying.

A knock on Alice's door came a few minutes later and in walked Rose looking gorgeous. God, what I would give to be as tall as she was. Instead, I was all of five foot two with some curves that I wished I didn't have. I wasn't fat or overweight by any means, but I was ample in the chest department and had kind of a big butt. Alice, on the other hand, was just cute. She was shorter than me and skinny. She really did look like a pixie.

I didn't know what Rose did, but by the time she was done, Alice's hair looked terrific.

"So what does one doe at this pageant thingy?" I asked.

"Parade around in a dress, do a talent, explain why I should win, blah, blah, blah," Alice said, not sounding like she was looking forward to it all. When I questioned why she was entering it, she told me it was because she was tired of Tanya always winning.

An hour later, Rose, Alice, and I were parking near Black's, and I was amazed at the number of people that lined the streets. It seemed as if all of Wild Turkey had come out for the parade. I was quickly informed by both Rose and Alice that the parade was a huge event and celebrated by the whole town. No kidding.

The three of us began to make our way toward Bay Park where the stage for the pageant was set up, so that Alice could finish getting ready. After dropping Alice off and assuring her she'd do great, Rose and I fought our way through the crowd until we found Emmett, Jasper, and Edward.

"Ready for this, Bells?" Emmett asked me as the pageant began. I shook my head no. Pageants didn't appeal to me in the slightest and the only reason I was there was to support Alice. Hell, I think the only reason any of us were there was to support Alice. Except perhaps Edward. I was pretty sure he was there because Tanya demanded it.

Within minutes the announcer began the pageant and the girls began to walk onto the stage. First up was Tanya, and I could barely contain my laughter. She came out in some God-awful get up with miles upon miles of what looked like Grandma Swan's doilies. Her talent, if you could call it that, was to recite a monologue from _Gone With the Wind._ It made my ears bleed.

Soon Alice was up for her turn in the talent portion, and I couldn't help the grin that crossed my face when she began. She hiked up her dress and there are her feet were a pair of clogs. She flashed the audience a grin and clogged her little pixie heart out. It was awesome! I so hadn't expected that. When she was done, the five of us whooped and cheered our hearts out for her. She gave a little curtsey then skipped off the stage.

In the end, neither Tanya nor Alice won. The title went to some other girl, and I almost feared for her safety when I saw the look that Tanya was giving her. Alice, however, didn't seem upset in the slightest. She rushed over to us still in her dress and Jasper wrapped her up in a huge hug.

"You were fantastic," he told her with a grin before kissing her lips.

It was so damn sweet. I wanted that. Of course the moment was ruined when Tanya came over and stopped in front of Edward. For the next few minutes, all anyone in the vicinity heard was Tanya bitching. She ranted, she raved, she made me want to shove her into the bay in her ugly ass dress. I felt incredibly bad for Edward as he stood there, hands shoved into his pocket as she went on and on.

"Well?" she asked Edward, stamping her foot.

It was at that moment I knew he hadn't paid attention to a word she'd said.

"Well, what?"

She let out a screech of outrage. "Are you kidding me?! Did you not listen? I should be the one that's up there, not that Claire girl!"

Edward sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sure the judges chose who they thought was best."

I winced as the words came out of his mouth. Those were not the words that Tanya wanted to hear.

"You're supposed to be on my side!" she screamed before stomping off with Victoria in tow.

"Well that went well," he muttered.

"C'mon," Emmett said. "I'm starving! Let's grab some grub. They've got burgers, brats, and roasted wild turkey."

Rose rolled her eyes and mumbled something about a bottomless pit, and she was right. I hadn't noticed it during the clambake, but I watched as he piled three burgers, two brats, two large chunks of turkey, chips, and potato salad onto two plates.

"Are you sharing that with Rose?" I asked him.

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Hell no! This is for me."

"All of that?" I squawked.

He let out one of his booming laughs. "Yes, Bells. All of this. I'm a growing boy."

I had to admit, I was a bit disgusted. I looked down at my own plate which housed a slice of turkey, a roll, and some macaroni salad.

After lunch and the parade, we wandered around to look at the different booths that were set up. There were booths selling vegetables, handmade candy, quilts, candles, and on and on. Who knew that the people of Wild Turkey were so diverse.

At one point, Edward and I got separated from the rest of our group, not that I minded. We passed by a booth with a huge crowd of people wearing binoculars around their necks, and I commented on it.

"Oh, that's the Wild Turkey Audubon Society booth. We have a bird sanctuary on the island," Edward explained to me.

"Seriously? How did I not know that?"

He shrugged. "It's quite popular. Brings bird watchers from all over the world."

We continued waking and passed by a booth selling funnel cake. I had to stop and buy some. Funnel cake was a weakness of my mine. It was my kryptonite.

Things were going well, and I was having a blast. Edward was quite funny which only made me like him more. Not that I would ever do anything about it while he had a girlfriend.

"There you are!" Tanya snarled as she and Victoria came up to us. "I've been looking all over for you. Why didn't you answer my text, huh? It's because you were off with her, wasn't it? Are you cheating on me?" she wailed.

_Oh, good lord. Dramatic much? _I didn't even bother to hide my eye roll.

"Chill out, Tanya. Bella and I are friends. Am I not allowed to talk and hang out with my friends now?"

Tanya crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at the both of us. "I don't want you hanging out with her."

"You don't get to dictate who I hang out with out, Tanya. You're my girlfriend, but I'm allowed to be friends with Bella."

That started a huge argument between the two of them to which I didn't stick around to listen to. Excusing myself, I wandered through the crowds and found Charlie talking to Sam while keeping an eye on the crowd.

"Hey, Dad." I waved as I approached him.

"Hey, Bells," he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "Having fun?"

"Surprisingly yes. I did manage to misplace my friends though."

"Well, you can always hang out here with your old man," he told me with a grin.

I grinned back. "Yeah, think I'll pass on that. I'll just wander around 'til I find them."

Waving goodbye to Charlie, I headed down the road and through the crowds, finally locating Alice only after I'd texted her.

"Where do you go?" she asked once I'd approached them.

"I was talking to Edward and next thing I knew, you guys were gone. But it's okay. I found funnel cake."

Emmett's eyes lit up and demanded to know where. I laughed and told him it was near the bird society booth.

The five of us stayed and hung out until late, even volunteering to help clean up. It wasn't until around ten, that Alice and I said goodbye to the others, and she dropped me off at home.

As soon as I entered the house, I headed to my room where I collapsed onto my bed. I barely had the energy to change into my pajamas. That was the first night that I dreamed of Edward.

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**a/n: As always, let me know what you thought!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Know what I suck at besides math? Replying to reviews and time management. I was out today running errands, goofing off , and napping before I realized I needed to refine this chapter. Half of this story was written last November, so it's been interesting to look back and see what I wrote. I've ended up tweaking a lot of it. Anyway, huge thanks for all the reviews!**

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All too soon the month of July had come to an end, and we found ourselves well into August, and it was freaking hot. Thank God that we lived on an island, allowing a constant breeze coming off the gulf and the bay. But August didn't just bring heat. It also brought tourists in droves. The campground was at full capacity almost daily, keeping myself and Alice busy in the store. And with tourists come jerks and assholes. I'd been flirted, hit on, and called various names such as sweetheart, sugar, and sexy lady. I wasn't amused.

"I swear, Mrs. Newton. If one more boy calls me baby, I'm going to smack 'em."

Mrs. Newton let out a laugh. "Gotta love summer, hon. It brings out all kinds. Are any of them cute at least?"

"One or two," I replied, grinning as I remembered one particularly hot guy that had come in. He'd been tall with dark hair, dark eyes, a killer tan, and a British accent. It was the accent that had done me in. Sadly, he and his family had left a week ago.

Mrs. Newton informed that she was off to an Audubon Society meeting and that she would be back at one. So there I sat. Bored and hot. The tiny AC in the store was working overtime, but it was no match for the stifling heat. I'd been told it wasn't normally this hot. I hoped not because the heat was killing me.

I sat on my stool, reading a romance on my Kindle when the bell above the door rang. I looked up and almost forgot to breath. Edward. His hair was damp, he was shirtless, and wearing a pair of board shorts and sandals. Oh, be still my beating heart.

"H—Hey," I managed to get out, trying not to drool. He flashed me a grin that made me melt. He was entirely too good-looking for his own good.

"Hey, Bella!" he said as he crossed over to the cooler and pulled out two bottles of water. He brought them over to the counter and slid them across toward me, our fingers grazing. It took everything in me not to grab onto those fingers.

I rang up the sale, my fingers fumbling slightly over the keys on the cash register.

"So … uh, what are you up to today?" I asked him.

"Emmett and I are playing volleyball down at the beach," he said. Oh, what I would give to see that. Immediately, my mind wandered, and I pictured a hot, sweaty Edward on the beach.

"What time do you get off work?" he asked me, interrupting my daydream regarding him.

"One."

There went that grin again. "Come on down to the beach. Em and I'll be there all day."

Like I was going to say no. "Which beach?" I asked seeing as how there were so many.

"Dolphin Beach. It's the one right across from here."

_Duh, Bella._ That would make sense. After agreeing to hang out, I waved goodbye to him and tried not to ogle his ass as he left. Totally preoccupied thanks to Edward, I couldn't even concentrate on my ebook, and I kept glancing at the clock. Time had never moved so slow.

Alice was out of town on a family vacation, so Mrs. Newton was covering. She had a tendency to run a bit late, and I hoped that today she would be on time.

By one-fifteen, I was beyond annoyed and praying that Mrs. Newton would actually remember that she was covering for Alice. At one-thirty, Mrs. Newton came rushing in, apologizing profusely.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. The ladies just wouldn't stop gossiping."

I told her it was okay and mad the mistake of asking how the meeting was. As soon as I said that, I'd wished I'd kept my mouth shut. She went on and on about birds and people until I thought my ears would bleed. Finally, I was able to make an escape.

I hopped into my car and drove it across the street until I found a parking spot near Dolphin Beach. Climbing out of the car, I made my way across the sand and didn't bother to hide my disgust when I saw Tanya and Victoria. I should've known they'd be there because wherever Edward was, they were. I almost wondered if Tanya and Victoria were dating Edward together since Tanya never seemed to be far from Victoria. Or perhaps she and Victoria were having a secret relationship. Yeah, time to stop that train of thought. I had nothing against lesbians, gays, transgenders, whatever. I just didn't want to think about Tanya and Victoria getting it on. _Eww._

Shaking my head, I looked around hoping that I'd see Rose. Sadly, I didn't. So taking a deep breath, I made my way toward them. Emmett was the first one to notice me and he jogged over to try and give me a hug.

"No. Don't even think about it," I told him as the sweaty giant attempted to wrap his arms around me.

He pouted and gave me a wounded look. "Why must you wound me so?" he asked. I grinned at him and was about to respond when Tanya voiced her opinion.

"Because she's a stuck up, city girl."

I whirled around about to call her out for being a small-minded country hick but thought better of it. Besides, Emmett and Edward both came to my defense.

"No, she's not," Emmett and Edward both said at the same time.

I couldn't help giving Tanya a smug look. That's right, bitch. Your boyfriend came to my defense. I watched as Edward pulled Tanya aside with Victoria trailing behind and turned to Emmett.

"Is Tanya dating Victoria as well as Edward? Because that girl is always around."

Emmett roared with laughter and swung a sweaty arm around my shoulder. "Earlier this summer, I asked Edward if he was dating Victoria and Tanya. That girl can't seem to function without Tanya. It's sad really. I remember in June, Tanya went on vacation and poor Victoria wandered around town like a lost puppy. I found it amusing."

I grinned. "So, where's Rose? She didn't want to come watch you get all gross and sweaty?"

He shook his head. "Nah, she's busy helping out at her dad's auto shop."

I squinted trying to picture the model perfect Rose working on cars, and I couldn't do it. "Really?"

Emmett nodded. "Oh, yeah. Don't let the outside package fool you. She's one hell of a mechanic. After high school, she wants to get a degree in business, then take over her dad's shop."

I was impressed. When I asked Emmett about his plans, he shrugged, and told me he had no idea. He knew he was going to college, but he wasn't sure what he wanted to study.

"Well, what do you like?"

The grin he flashed me was all kinds of naughty. I shook my head at him, and he finally answered me seriously.

"I love math. Maybe I'll be an accountant or something."

"I can't see you being an accountant. What about a math teacher who coaches high school football?" I joked.

His face lit up. "I could so do that. Math, football, summer's off. Hell, yes! Now, let's see if I can get into college. I don't have the best grades," he informed me.

I looked behind us and saw that Tanya and Edward were still arguing, so when Em asked me if I wanted to play against him in volleyball, I agreed. Bad idea. I wasn't athletic by any means.

"Be gentle with me," I begged.

Emmett agreed as we placed ourselves on opposite sides of the net. Emmett served the ball and it was obvious that he was quite good. I did my best to hit the ball and failed miserably. Thankfully, Em managed to keep himself in check and not laugh at me. Much.

Finally, it was my turn to serve the ball. I threw it in the air and hit it, watching as it bounced off the net. I had a feeling it was going to take me more than a few tries to get it over the net, and I was right.

The game, which wasn't really a game, was starting to actually go somewhere when I hit the ball Emmett had lobbed at me and felt a horrible pain in my wrist. Wincing I looked down and saw a huge bruise forming.

"Time out!" I called and immediately Emmett came running over.

"You okay, B?" he asked, concern in his voice. I held up my wrist, and he gasped.

"Jesus, B! I didn't mean to break you! You need to have that looked at." He turned away from me and hollered out Edward's name. Seconds later, Edward jogged over to where we were.

"We need to get Bella to Dad."

"Why?" Edward asked.

Emmett explained that he'd broken me, with me interjecting that he'd done no such thing. Before I knew it, I was being ushered up the steps of the Cullen house as Edward hollered for his dad. Carlisle came rushing down the hallway, stopping when he saw me holding my arm.

"What happened?" he asked, in full doctor mode.

I quietly explained our volleyball game as Carlisle looked at my wrist. The second he touched it, I winced and when he gently rotated it, I could barely contain the expletives that wanted to come out of my mouth.

"I want to x-ray this wrist," he told me after examining it.

I didn't even bother to hide my sigh. "Okay."

On the way over to Carlisle's office, I called Charlie and let him know what had happened.

"Only you, Bells. No more sports."

I agreed with him and promised to call him as soon as I knew anything. Carlisle pulled his car into the lot of the clinic, and we all piled out. We, meaning myself, Emmett, Edward, and of course, Carlisle.

Half an hour later, my wrist was declared broken. It wasn't a large break, more like a hairline fracture, but Carlisle wanted to put it in a cast for three weeks. I tried to argue that a splint would work just fine, but he was adamant.

Being in a cast totally sucked, but it sucked even more when I had to be in one during the summer. I'd learned to love the beach and water and had spent the better part of my afternoons getting some sun and playing in the water. That was pretty much out for the next three weeks. Sure, I could still go to the beach, and I could wade in the water, but no more boogie boarding. Surprisingly, boogie boarding was something that I was actually good at. I'd even managed not to drown.

I had a heavy heart and green cast on my right wrist as I walked into the waiting area. Emmett took one look at the cast and practically fell to his knees begging for forgiveness in breaking me. Rolling my eyes, I told him again it wasn't his fault.

"Emmett, I'm as clumsy as they come. It's a miracle if I go a day without tripping or falling. And when it comes to sports, I know better than to attempt them. It almost always ends up badly."

But Emmett wouldn't let it go. He truly felt horrible, so I let him make it up to me by buying me a waffle cone with two scoops of cookie dough ice cream from Sweets Ice Cream Shoppe.

I was sitting on a picnic table with Emmett on one side of me and Edward on the other, eating our ice cream when I saw both of them tense up. Figuring, Tanya and her pal, Victoria, were heading our way, I braced myself for the verbal attack. However, instead of seeing the blonde and the redhead, I saw a creepy looking guy with dirty blonde hair in a ponytail making his way toward us.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Cullen boys. And who are you, sweet thing?" the guy asked leering at me.

"None of your business," was my reply. I saw a flash of something in his eye that unsettled me.

"Now, sugar. Don't be like that. How about I tell you my name and you tell me yours?" he crooned.

"No thanks," I told him and went back to talking with Edward and Emmett. It took a few minutes but the guy finally left.

"Who was that?" I asked them.

"James Tracker. He's an asshole with a nasty attitude. If he bothers you, let your dad know right away," Edward warned.

Emmett nodded. "Guy did over a year in juvie when he was sixteen. You don't do a year in juvie because you spray-painted someone's house. He's trouble. Last I'd heard, he'd left the island and gotten a job in Mobile. I don't like that he's back."

I decided that I'd head over to the station to let Charlie know about my wrist as well as the James guy. I waved goodbye to the guys and began the three block walk to the station. I kept an eye out for the creepy guy and was relieved I didn't see him again.

"Hi, Emily," I said as I walked into the station.

"Bella! How are you?"

"I'm good. How about you?" I asked.

"Good. I'm so sorry that you haven't gotten to meet Leah yet."

"Oh, no worries. I'm sure I'll meet her once school starts. Listen, is my dad in?"

"Sure is. Go ahead and head on back," she told me.

I walked down the narrow hallway and knocked on Charlie's door. His head looked up from the computer, and he smiled when he saw me.

"Hey, kiddo. What's the verdict?"

I held up my green cast that was sporting three signatures.

"Aw, Bells. For how long?"

"Three weeks," I grumbled as I took a seat in the chair across from his desk.

"Could be worse. Could be six weeks."

"I know. I also wanted to tell you about this guy that I ran into a few minutes ago when I was with Edward and Emmett." Immediately, Charlie was on alert.

"His name is James Tracker, and according to Emmett, the guy did a year in juvie. He looks to be in his early twenties, he's got long dirty blonde hair, and he gave me a bad feeling."

"I'll look into him," Charlie promised. "You still carry your pepper spray?"

I nodded, although we both knew that I was more likely to spray myself with it than attacker. I stayed and hung out with Charlie for quite a while before deciding to head home.

"Emily?" Charlie called from his office.

She poked her head around his door, and he told her that he was going to drive me home and to call him on the radio if he was needed. As he started to drive me home in the dreaded police cruiser, I let him know that my car was still parked near Dolphin Beach and he could just drop me off.

"Are you sure you should be driving with that wrist?" he asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "I can drive with one hand, Dad."

He finally relented and drove toward Dolphin Beach. Charlie pulled the cruiser up behind my car and told me to be safe driving home. I promised I would be.

Minutes after I pulled into the drive, a crazy turkey that I'd named, Bob, came wandering over. Wild Turkey's mascot, Musket, hadn't wandered into our yard since Charlie had talked to his owner. While ugly and scaring looking, Bob was actually quite nice and fairly harmless. Not that I was going to go about feeding or hugging him or anything.

Once inside, I sprawled out on my bed with my laptop and basked in the wonderful air conditioning. I checked my Facebook page and updated my status to say that I was spending the next three weeks in a cast. I then went to Angela's page to see what she was up to only to find that I couldn't look at it. Apparently, we weren't friends any more. I frowned, thinking that there must be some mistake, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that she had indeed un-friended me.

Looking back over the past two weeks it was obvious. I'd done my best to stay in touch, and I'd even made it a priority to text or talk to her once a week. I guess my efforts hadn't been good enough and it saddened me to know that a life-long friendship was over and for what reason? As I lay there thinking about it, the angrier I got. How dare she end our friendship without an explanation.

I grabbed my phone and gave her a call, knowing that chances were she wouldn't answer. I was right. But I refused to give up. I called again and again, until she finally answered.

"What?" Angela barked out.

"Really? That's how you're going to answer me? You've ignored my calls and texts for the past week and then un-friended me on Facebook. If anyone had the right to pissed off, it's me. Would you care to explain why you've decided that we're no longer friends."

"I don't have time for this Bella. I'm going out with my friends. Surely, you know what those are, seeing as how you seem to have a ton of them down there."

_That's what this was about? _I knew that she had been pissed in the beginning because I'd been spending time with Alice and Rose, but I thought we'd gotten over that.

"Are you still mad that I've got friends down here that I hang out with? Did you expect me to move here and what? Be lonely all the time. I'm allowed to have other friends, Ange. That doesn't mean that I've stopped being friends with you," I explained.

"Whatever. I don't have time for your drama," she said before hanging up.

I stared at my phone almost in disbelief that she had hung up on me. Well, you know what? I didn't need friends like that. Screw Angela. I had Alice, Rose, Jasper, and Emmett. Edward as well. Despite his girlfriend's attempts to keep us from being friends.

I knew that Alice was in Georgia visiting family, but I sent her a text asking her to call me when she got the chance. Not more than a few minutes later, she called. Now that, was a true friend.

We chatted for a while as I explained the whole Angela situation to her. Alice's advice was that I was better off without Angela if she was going to act like that. While I agreed, it still hurt to lose someone I considered to my closest friend ever.

A little after five, I was on the couch watching reruns of _Battlestar Galactica _when the doorbell rang. Pausing the show, I got up, and smiled when I saw Edward and Jasper on my porch. I opened the door and gestured them in.

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

Jasper was about to speak when Edward burst out saying, "No way! You watch that show?!"

I felt a blush creep up my cheeks as I said, "It's not too bad."

Edward flashed me one of those grins. "I agree. Have you watched _Caprica_?"

I nodded. "I actually watched that first and then decided to give _Battlestar Galactica_ a chance."

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Should I leave you two geeks alone?"

_Yes, please,_ I thought.

"So what brings you two over?" I asked as they took seats on the couch.

"Mom wants to invite you and the Chief over for dinner tomorrow night, but she needs to know what time the Chief gets off work."

"He doesn't really have a set schedule, but I can have him to your house by seven, if that's cool?"

"Seven it is."

* * *

At quarter to seven the next evening, we pulled up in the Cullen's driveway and parked behind a very fancy looking Mercedes and Charlie let out a whistle when he saw the Cullen house.

"Damn! This is some place."

"Wait 'til you see the inside. It's amazing."

We headed up the steps to the porch where were greeted by Esme as she ushered us inside. While Carlisle was giving Charlie a tour, I asked Esme if I could help her in the kitchen. She led the way into the kitchen, and I fell in love with it all over again. It was a beautiful kitchen, with open space and huge windows overlooking the gulf.

"Jasper!" Esme called out the open window.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Get your brothers and father. Dinner will be on the table in five."

A few seconds later I heard Jasper hollering for Edward, Emmett, and Carlisle much to Esme's dismay.

"That boy," she said with a sigh.

Soon, we were all seated around the large table in the Cullen's dining room. Esme had outdone herself. She'd made pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. I don't think Charlie or I had eaten that good since we'd moved down here. Charlie was a dismal cook; only able to fry and grill fish and steaks. That was it. Guess it was a good thing we lived near the gulf.

While I wasn't as bad as Charlie in the kitchen, I was certainly no Esme Cullen. My kitchen expertise was pretty much relegated to pasta, burgers, and chicken.

"This is fantastic," Charlie said in between mouth fulls, and I wholeheartedly agreed.

I was afraid that dinner would be awkward but it wasn't. Charlie and Carlisle talked about fishing and sports with the boys, while Esme and I discussed the upcoming school year.

"Are you nervous about starting school?" she asked me.

"Terrified," I said. "I've never started a new school all by myself before. I went to high school with kids I've known since kindergarten, so this will be a new experience."

"You won't be by yourself," Edward told me. "You've got all of us, you know?"

Jasper nodded in agreement. "And you can always car pool with us if you want or with Emmett and Rose. Although, we do have football practice so you'd have to hang out after school and wait for us to finish."

Charlie set down his drink as he looked at the boys. "That's a good idea, boys. I'd prefer if Bells rode with someone."

"It's not like I haven't driven up to Riverton by myself, Dad," I reminded him.

I'd driven up there the first week of August to check out their library. I'd decided it was too much of a hassle to check out books over the summer. I didn't want to waste money on gas heading up there every two weeks or so. However, during the school year, I might check out a few books.

"I know, Bells, but I'd feel better if you rode with someone else," Charlie said. I barely contained rolling my eyes, but I agreed that I'd carpool with someone.

After dinner was over, we thanked the Cullens and headed home to find Bob hanging out on the porch. Charlie shooed him off, mumbling about pesky turkeys. We said goodnight to each other, and I headed to bed.

I spent an hour laying there thinking about the past few days and how sweet Edward was. I didn't honestly know what he saw in Tanya, but I desperately wished they'd break up. I couldn't even find it in myself to feel guilty for wishing for that. It was petty and jealous, but it was true. Then again, even if they did break up, it sure didn't mean Edward would go out with me. It wasn't like I was anything special.

* * *

The month of August was quickly coming to an end and school would be starting up on Monday. Despite the fact that I would be walking into school with a set of friends, it didn't make me feel any less nervous.

August had been an interesting month. I'd grown closer to Edward despite Tanya's interference. We were just friends, but any time we were hanging out alone, she'd find a way to pop up. It was beyond annoying and a bit ridiculous. First of all, Edward would never cheat on her. He wasn't like that. Second of all, I'd never play the part of the "other" woman. While I didn't care for Tanya in the slightest, I would never do anything to ruin their relationship.

Edward had finally had enough, and he'd blown up at her one day. He'd told her if she couldn't trust him then they had no business being in a relationship. Needless to see, Tanya had backed off a bit. However, more than once, I'd seen Victoria lurking about.

Alice, Rose, and I had grown even closer. They were definitely my best friends. Weekends were spent at one of our houses, hanging out and being girly. I'd had more fun with the two of them than I'd had with Angela in years. Angela and I were officially no longer friends. I still hadn't really figured out what had happened, but I'd decided if she couldn't be bothered to discuss our friendship, then it wasn't worth it.

"Mom's taking me into Mobile to get some school supplies and new clothes. Did you want to come with?" Alice asked me as we sat behind the desk at the store.

"Sure. I need to get some new stuff."

"Awesome! Rose is going to come to. I think Mom wants to go tomorrow morning and make a whole day of it."

Alice's mom was pretty awesome. She was tiny just like Alice with the same black hair, but she had dark eyes and was of Latino descent. The first time I'd met her, she'd wrapped me up in a hug and demanded that I call her Carmen. I'd come to learn that people in Wild Turkey didn't stand on ceremony and most often or not, they wanted to be called by their first names.

Both of Alice's parents were lawyers. Her dad had an office in Riverton while her mom had an office on the island. I'd asked Alice why they didn't have an office together, and she told me they'd tried that when they were younger and it had almost led to a divorce.

The following morning at nine, Alice's mom pulled into my drive, and I climbed into the back of the car with Rose. We started the two hour drive to Mobile, and I'd never been so glad to see a mall in my life. Normally, I hated shopping of any kind, but I'd actually missed going to the mall and hanging out with my friends.

"Okay, so here's the plan," Alice began. "Clothes shopping first, then lunch, and school supplies last. Sound good?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

As soon as Carmen parked the car, Alice was off in a flash. The mall was her favorite place in the world; her happy place.

Two hours later, I'd tried on more clothes than I'd ever tried on before. I'd also spent more money than I'd planned on clothes. That's what I got for being friends with a woman who loved to shop and who loved clothes. Finally, it was time for lunch and we got a table at one of the chain restaurants in the mall. As we sat eating, a couple of girls walked by and Alice pointed them out.

"Bree Riley and Jane Alec. They're seniors and good friends with Tanya and Victoria. Stay out of their way if you can. They're complete bitches," Alice informed me.

As our day went on, Alice and Rose pointed out several students that went to Riverton High. I was surprised to see so many of them in Mobile, but Alice and Rose weren't. Mobile had the closest mall and most of the students who went to our school lived in Riverton and often hit up Mobile for good shopping.

We had a great, yet long day, and I walked away a with a lighter wallet and a ton of bags. It was a little after six by the time Carmen dropped me off at home. I thanked them for the ride and a fun day, before dragging my bags inside.

"Geez, Bells. Did you buy out the mall?" Charlie joked when he saw me.

"Hardly, but according to Alice, I needed some new clothes, and I had to get stuff for school," I told him as I put the bags in my room.

I headed back to the living room and plopped down on the couch next to Charlie.

"School starts Monday. You still nervous?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I've never been the new kid before."

Charlie reached over and gave my shoulder a squeeze. "You'll be fine. You've got those boys and the girls by your side."

Charlie loved Alice and Rose. He'd never been too fond of Angela, but he adored Alice and Rose. Thought of them as daughters. As for those boys, as he called them, he liked them too. Although, he was a bit weary of Emmett ever since he'd found out that Emmett had been busted for underage drinking a year ago. Since then, he'd kept a close eye on him.

Charlie had also been keeping a close eye on James Tracker. So far, Tracker had been behaving and had left me alone, but I was afraid that he was just biding his time. Charlie was of the same mind. After he'd found out all the juicy info about James, he'd called a meeting with us kids. He hadn't told us what James had done, seeing as how his record was sealed, but he did make us promise to watch out for each other. We were also to call him or his deputies if James did anything to bother us. We'd immediately promised.

All too soon the weekend came to an end and before I knew it, my alarm was going off, alerting me to my first day of school. I'd slept like crap. I was so nervous that I'd had horrible dreams all night. I stumbled into my bathroom and grimaced at the dark circles under my eyes. _Ugh. _After showering, I dressed in one of the outfits that Alice had insisted I buy, and fixed my hair. I was too nervous to eat breakfast, so I killed some time gathering up my school supplies and shoving them into my bag.

"Have a good day at school, Bells. I'll see you when you get home," Charlie said with a kiss to the side of my head as he headed out the door.

At seven-ten, Emmett's Jeep pulled into my drive and the asshole laid on the horn. I hurried out the door, cursing as I stumbled down the steps.

"Oh, shut up," I growled at Emmett as I climbed into the back as he snickered at me.

Alice was riding with Jasper, Edward, and Tanya. Better her than me. I had no desire to be in a small confined space with Tanya. But Alice promised to ride with me the rest of the week. I told her it wasn't a big deal. I knew she wanted to ride with Jasper, and he always rode with Edward. I honestly didn't mind riding to school with Emmett and Rose.

We made small talk for the next forty-five minutes and then we were pulling into the school parking lot. Immediately, my nerves kicked into high gear. I felt like I was going to puke. With shaking hands, I opened the jeep door and climbed out.

"Ready, B?" Emmett asked. I shook my head no. I wasn't ready. I didn't want to do this. I knew it was pointless to be so nervous, but I couldn't help it.

"You'll be fine. You've got us," Rose said, leading us over to where Jasper and Alice were waiting. I nodded and took a deep breath. I could do this.

* * *

**a/n: Man, I've been that new kid way more times than I can count. Good thing, I don't have a shy bone in my body and have no probs talking to anyone. Come to think of it, my ability to never shut up has gotten me in quite a bit of trouble.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Woot! Got it posted before midnight, so I managed to post on time. It's been one hell of a day, and I wasn't sure I'd make it. Big thanks for all the reviews! As you know, I'm a total fail at responding to them, but I appreciate them all the same. Any and all mistakes (particularly those of the comma variety) are my own.**

* * *

"The office is over this way," Alice said, leading the way with me following behind her. We stopped in front of a set of doors that read School Office. Alice opened the door, and I slowly followed her in. Behind the desk was a plump woman with a friendly face.

"Hello, Alice, dear. How are you?"

Alice smiled and replied, "I'm good, Mrs. Cope. This is my friend, Bella Swan. She's starting here today."

Mrs. Cope gave me a smile and told me that she had my file ready. "Give me just a sec, hon."

A few minutes later, she came back and handed me some papers, a map of the school, and my locker number and combination. I took the papers and thanked her. I didn't really need the map. When Charlie and I had come up in June to register me for school, we'd taken a tour. I vaguely remembered the lay out, although there were three different buildings. One for general stuff, one for science and art, and one for the gym. Plus I had my friends to help me out.

Alice yanked my schedule out of my hand the second we were in the hallway. "Sweet! We have biology, calculus, and gym together."

I felt a bit more relieved knowing that she'd be in some of classes. By the time we'd gotten done in the office, the bell was about to ring, and I didn't have time to find my locker. Alice led me down a hall and stopped in front of a classroom.

"This is your English class. I'll meet you in calculus next hour. Take a right at the end of this hall, and it's the third door on the left," she told me before skipping down the hall.

I slowly walked into the class and looked around. There were a few empty desks in the back and a lot of empty desks up front. I actually didn't mind sitting in the front, so I took a seat in the first row near a window. Students trickled in at the last minute and then the bell rang. I could practically feel the stares as they all noticed me.

Mr. Masen, my English teacher, was a really nice guy and told us that we'd be starting off the year reading _Wuthering Heights._ I could barely contain my excitement as he passed out the books. _Wuthering Heights_ was one of my favorites. After everyone had their books, he informed us that we'd be reading three chapters a week and then having a test over those three chapters on Fridays. Seeing as how I practically had the book memorized, I didn't share in my peers moaning and groaning. I spent the rest of class reading the book, while those around me talked. A lot of them were talking about me, but I chose to ignore them.

"You're new here, right?" a guy behind me asked. I marked my spot in my book and turned to face the guy behind me.

"Yeah."

"Where are you from?" he asked.

"Seattle," I replied.

The guy stuck out a hand and introduced himself as Felix.

"Bella Swan," I told him.

We talked for a bit until the bell rang and as we gathered up our stuff, he asked what my next class was. I told him, and he offered to show me where it was. I took him up on his offer and found Alice waiting outside for me.

"Hey, Felix!" she exclaimed giving him a hug. I stood and listened as they spent the next few minutes talking about their summer and about the latest fashion trends.

"See you at lunch, Felix!" she called as he headed down the hallway, waving as he went.

Alice quickly explained to me that Felix was a good friend who was originally from Mobile. He'd gotten bullied at school there plus he had issues with his parents, so he'd moved to Riverton to live with his grandparents a few years ago.

Alice and I grabbed a couple of desks near the back and class soon began. Math was not my strong suit, I knew within the first few minutes this class was going to be a pain in my ass. I was going to have study extra hard to pass and I mentioned it to Alice as we left.

"Ask Emmett for help. He loves math," she suggested.

My next class was history, and when I walked in the door, Edward waved to me and pointed to a desk next to his. I gladly walked over to him and took the seat next to him, ignoring the stares being shot our way.

"How's your first day going so far?" he asked me.

I gave a shrug. "Pretty good. Although, calc might kill me."

He asked what the rest of my schedule looked like, so I handed it over to him. "Oh, cool. We have gym and biology together."

_Oh, great._ He'd get to see my clumsy ass fall all over the place in gym.

History class was pretty funny as our teacher was quite the comedian. He cracked jokes before handing out a packet of worksheets that we'd have to complete by the end of the week. I flipped through it and grinned at some of the questions. There was a question that asked which way the toilet paper should be put on the roll. Paper up or paper down. Flipping to the last page, there was a large empty space where he asked you to draw a picture of what you loved most about Alabama. I was definitely looking forward to the class.

After class, I found my locker and after struggling to get the stupid thing open, I shoved my books into it before wandering in the general direction of the cafeteria. I caught up with Alice and Felix in the hallway and we made our way to lunch. I grabbed a slice of pizza, an apple, and some lemonade before following the two of them over to a table in the back.

Rose, Emmett, and Jasper were already seated at a round table near the back of the room. I took a seat near Rose and looked around for Edward, trying not to be obvious about it but Jasper busted me.

"Chances are he's sitting with Tanya and her gang," he told me. I nodded as I took a small bite of pizza. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad.

We spent lunch talking about our classes, and I begged Emmett for math help. He agreed to help me, but in exchange I had to go to his football games. It was a fair trade, plus it would give me a chance to check out Edward in his uniform.

Halfway through lunch, a commotion across the cafeteria caught my attention, and I watched as Edward got up from the table he was at with Tanya and headed toward us. He pulled out a chair next to mine and slammed his tray down on the table.

"What's up, bro?" Jasper asked.

"Tanya," he growled out before shoving some fries into his mouth.

Edward didn't seem inclined to speak anymore on the subject, so Jasper changed the subject, and started talking aboutfootball practice. I hadn't even thought about that when I'd gotten a ride with Emmett. I had no idea how long football practice would last, not that I was opposed to hanging around and waiting. I brought it up to Rose, but it was Felix that spoke up.

"I can give you a ride home if you want," he told me.

"I don't want to inconvenience you and make you go out of your way," I protested, although I greatly appreciated the offer. Felix told me it was no big deal as he was giving Alice a ride home as well. I decided after that, that I'd take my car and Alice could ride home with me if she wanted.

"What are you going to do while Emmett's practicing?" I asked Rose.

"I've got cheer practice," she told me. The apple that was halfway to my mouth stopped, and I just stared at her.

"You're a cheerleader?" I asked, disbelief evident in my voice.

She grinned. "Yep, and the mean girls hate it."

"But—" I was at a loss. She didn't seem like the typical cheerleader, and I knew it was wrong to stereotype.

Rose shrugged. "I've done gymnastics for years, but the closest school with a gymnastics team is in Mobile, so I went with the next best thing. Cheerleading."

Well, I couldn't fault that reasoning. I'd never imagined in a million years I'd be hanging out with cheerleaders and football players but hey, who was I to complain? They didn't fit the stereotypical claims of either, something I was grateful for.

As the bell rang, I threw my trash away and said goodbye to everyone before heading out the door toward the science and art building. Art class was the one class I was really looking forward to. I loved nothing more than to spend time drawing. As I entered the building, I quickly found the art room.

The art teacher, Mrs. Dormien, was something else. She looked like a throwback to the sixties. Long flowing skirt and top, long hair in a braid, and a pair of Birkenstocks on her feet. She greeted me as I came in and told me to choose a table to sit at. I chose a table in the front and set my backpack down next to me ready for class to start. However, my good mood was almost ruined when I saw Tanya and Victoria come sauntering in. They shot me nasty looks before sitting at the table behind me.

A few minutes later, class begins and Mrs. Dormien begins to talk about the masters and some of their works. The first half of the class was spent listening to her and taking notes. The second half of class, Mrs. Dormien told us to get out our sketch pads and to start drawing. She wanted us to draw the first thing that came to mind.

Immediately, I started sketching a pair of eyes. Eyes that were bright green, warm, and sweet. Eyes that twinkled with laughter and shined with mischief. I was focused on my drawing, but I could hear Tanya and Victoria behind me whispering. It was very annoying.

"Girls? Less talking, more drawing. Let me see what you've got," Mrs. Dormien said.

Then Mrs. Dormien came over to me and looked at my drawing. I'd drawn several sets of eyes by that point, each of them depicting a different emotion.

"Excellent, Bella. I love how expressive you've made the different eyes."

I couldn't contain my smile at her praise. My art was very special to me. It was an outlet that only my family really knew about. Not even my friends knew, although they probably would eventually.

After art let out, I headed down the hall to biology. I wasn't looking forward to that class, but all that changed when I saw Edward sitting at a table. I tossed a wave his way before taking a seat next to Alice. I was hoping that we'd get to be lab partners. I didn't want to get stuck with Victoria who was in the class as well. Our teacher, Mr. Banner, introduced himself then told us all to stand up. He informed us that he had randomly drawn names to assign us lab partners. I groaned when Alice got paired up with some girl and prayed that I wouldn't get stuck with Victoria. My prayers were answered.

"Bella Swan, you'll be working with Edward Cullen."

_Woot, woot! _A part of me wanted to stand up and cheer, but I contained it. Barely. I made my way over toward Edward's lab table and gave him a grin which he returned.

"Thank, God. I was afraid I'd get stuck with Icky Vicky," he whispered to me. I let out a snicker and told him that I'd had the same fear.

Class passed too quickly for my liking, then Alice, Edward, and I walked over to the gym. Attendance was taken and we were told to change into our uniforms. I followed Alice into the girls' locker room and we quickly changed. Bright orange was not my color. These shirts were a beacon. They practically glowed in the dark.

Once changed, we headed out into the gym and when Coach Clapp told us we'd be playing volleyball, I didn't bother to contain my groan. I'd just gotten my cast off last week, and I wasn't looking forward to breaking anything again. I headed over to Coach Clapp and explained my fear. He basically told me to suck it up and get out on the court. Begrudgingly, I did so.

Needless to say, gym class was a disaster. The opposing team quickly learned that I was the weakest link and they constantly aimed for me. Thankfully, I had Edward and Alice by my side who did their best to protect me as did my other teammates. By the time gym ended, I was battered and bruised.

After a quick shower, I got dressed and walked out to the parking lot with Alice to meet up with Felix. I saw the boys, dressed in shorts and muscle tops, heading toward the football field. Part of me wanted to stick around and watch them get all sweaty. The boys waved to us and we waved back before climbing into Felix's car. I felt horrible that Felix was going so far out of his way, but he assured me once again, that it was no big deal. Apparently, he and Alice had some clothes talking to do.

"Oh! Alice did I tell you about this guy I met over the summer?"

Alice demanded to know the details.

"I'm in love! He's absolutely lovely. His name is Marcus, he's nineteen, and he goes to college in Mobile. He's tall, dark, handsome, and hung!" he said with a grin causing us to laugh and groan.

After I arrived home, I tossed my bag in my room then headed toward the couch. I was exhausted. It had been a long day, but at least I didn't have a lot of homework. Mainly just reading and working on my history packet. I was also extremely glad that I didn't have to go to work. When Mrs. Newton had hired me, she'd let me know that she only hired high school students for the summer. She said it was because she wanted us to focus on our education during the school year. Charlie was of the same mind and right now, I completely agreed.

I was still on the couch when I heard Charlie pull in. I heard him say hi to Bob before opening the door.

"How was school?" he asked as he hung up his gun belt and collapsed into the recliner.

"Not horrible," I replied. "I'm just glad that I knew people going in who could show me the ropes."

"Well, I'm glad that it wasn't too bad."

"Oh, I think that I'm going to start driving to school with Alice. The boys have football practice in the afternoons, and I don't feel like hanging around and waiting until their done," I told him.

"Oh, that's right. I can understand you're not wanting to hang about. Just have Alice ride with you as often as possible. It'll make your old man feel better."

I agreed, then got off the couch and headed into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and then the freezer trying to decide what to make for dinner. Charlie came up behind me and told me he'd grill some fish, so I wouldn't have to cook. I readily agreed.

While Charlie began dinner, I headed to my room, sat on my bed, and grabbed my history book and packet. By the time, Charlie called me for dinner, I had completed my packet and read eight chapters of _Wuthering Heights_. Okay, technically I skimmed the eight chapters, but that was only because I knew the book by heart.

I sat down at the table and looked at the food placed before me. Grilled catfish, green beans, and a salad. I was actually impressed and told Charlie so.

"Yeah, yeah. I was inspired by Esme's cooking and she gave me a few recipes and meal plans. We need to eat better," he said with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"You'll get no argument from me as long as you don't make me become a vegetarian."

Charlie let out a snort. "No worries there, Bells."

After dinner, I stuck the dishes in the dishwasher then headed back to my room. I booted up my laptop and pulled up my email. Seeing that I had one from my mother, I opened it.

_Hi, Sweetie!_

_We haven't spoken in ages. I'm sure you're about to start school, and I just wanted to wish you well. Phil and I are doing great. As a matter of fact, we're getting married in October and I want you to be my maid of honor._

I pretty much stopped reading after that. She and Charlie had only been divorced since May, and now she was getting married to some college guy. I didn't know much about him except for the fact that he was only a few years older than me and played triple-A ball.

Closing my email, I opened up my Facebook page, smiling when I saw that I had a friend request from Felix. Of course, I accepted it. I updated my status stating that I had survived my first day of school, then I scrolled through my feed to catch up with the few friends that I still had from Seattle.

I was about to log off when my chat popped up, and I did a little dance when I saw it was Edward. We chatted for about an hour before calling it a night. Later, I crawled into bed and sent Alice a text asking her if I was picking her up. After getting her response, I set the alarm and drifted off too sleep.

* * *

My first week of school passed quickly, and I'd settled into a routine. Alice rode with me to school everyday, but sometimes she stayed behind to watch Jasper practice. Her parents had insisted on giving me gas money for taking her to school. I'd tried to tell them no, but they'd been insistent. So, that money went into my car fund and would only be used for gas or repairs.

Friday evening was the first football game of the year and Emmett reminded me at lunch that I was expected to go and to cheer on the team. I made arrangements with Alice and Felix and agreed to pick them up for the game.

On the way home from school, I stopped at the police station to let Charlie know I was going to the game with Alice and Felix. Not too much later, they came over to my house and made me try on several outfits until they deemed one game appropriate. I hadn't understood why I couldn't wear what I'd worn to school, but they'd both been adamant that I change. It was easier to do that then argue.

Once I was dressed, we drove over to Alice's house so she could change and let her parents know she was going out. At a quarter to five, the three of us drove back to Riverton and stopped by Felix's house. I was introduced to Felix's grandparents who were very nice and spent several minutes bored out of my mind as Felix and Alice discussed what he should wear.

Finally, Felix was dressed and we were on our way. The parking lot was full and we had a hell of a time finding a spot, and I was amazed at how many people were there. Alice and Felix pointed out that it was football and we were in the south.

"It's practically a religion down here," Alice informed me.

An hour later, the game was well underway, and we were up by seven points. I learned rather quickly, that Felix knew nothing about football and just came to watch the boys in their tight uniforms. I, however, wasn't completely clueless about football. I'd spent far too many Sunday afternoons and Monday nights watching it with Charlie.

By the time we were at the end of the fourth quarter, the score was tied but we had the ball. Edward threw the ball to Jasper, and we all began screaming as Jasper ran down the field. If he scored, then we'd win. Jasper scored and the crowd went wild. Like insanely wild. Everyone was screaming, cheering, dancing. It was awesome. Back in Seattle, our high school football games had never been that crazy. Probably because our team had never won a game.

I hung around with Alice and Felix after the game was over so that we could congratulate the boys. About twenty minutes later, they came out of the locker room and immediately, Alice was in Jasper's arms, pressing kisses to his face. Rose came out of the girl's locker room and headed toward Emmett, who wrapped her up in a huge hug.

I did my best not to make a face when Tanya came running over and threw herself at Edward. She was squealing, babbling, and carrying on in such a fashion that Edward looked as irritated as I felt.

"Mom and Dad are treating us to dinner at Fat's. You guys coming with?" Jasper asked us.

We all agreed and got into our cars and followed Esme and Carlisle to a small diner. I parked next to Carlisle's Mercedes, and we headed inside. There were a group of tables that had all been pushed together, so there was enough room for all of us. Somehow, and I think Esme had something to do with it, I ended up sitting next to Edward while Tanya was across the table shooting daggers at me and Victoria was all the way at the other end.

We were all having a good time, well most of us anyway. Tanya, on the other hand was complaining. She bitched about everything from her silverware to her salad. On and on it went until I was ready to reach over and stab her with my fork which was clenched tightly in my grasp. A warm hand placed itself on my wrist, and I looked up to see Edward watching me.

"She's not worth stabbing," he whispered with a grin.

"Are you sure? Have you tried it?" I whispered back.

He let out a quiet laugh, his warm breath ghosting across my cheek. "No, I haven't tried it. It's not usually the best idea for a guy to stab his girlfriend," he said, his words sobering me up. Right. His girlfriend. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what he saw in her. I wanted to ask him, but it was none of my business.

A cough from across the table broke our little spell and found Tanya looking at me with murder in her eyes. I kept my fork clutched in my hand. I wasn't opposed to stabbing her in order to defend myself.

After dinner, I drove Felix back to his house then headed back to Wild Turkey. Alice was going to ride with Jasper. The drive back was easy enough, although there was quite a bit of traffic, but it was Friday night. I passed the ice cream shoppe once I was back in town and decided to stop when I saw it was open. I could go for a couple of scoops, and I'd grab one to go for Charlie as well.

I parked the car and headed inside to find the place quite packed. I got in line and was a few people away from ordering when I heard an unwanted voice behind me.

"Well, well. If it ain't the sweetest Yankee I've had the pleasure to meet," came the slimy voice of James. I chose to ignore him, doing my best to stay calm and not let him know that he was bothering me.

The line moved and I with it, placing my order. I suppose I could've just left, but then I would be letting James know that he had an affect on me. Once I had my ice cream, I headed out the door, hurrying toward the car. Balancing the little cups of ice cream while unlocking the door was proving more difficult than I'd thought. It didn't help that I was hurrying because James creeped me out. Finally, I got the door open, climbed in, slammed it shut, and locked the doors. I roared out of the parking lot almost toppling the cups of ice cream.

I let out a sigh once I arrived home and headed inside where I found Charlie in front of the TV watching ESPN.

"Hey, Dad!" I called out as I headed toward him.

"Hey, Bells," he said looking away from the TV. "How was the game?"

"Good. We won, so I thought we could celebrate with ice cream," I said, handing him the cup with his favorite, mint chocolate chip.

"Thanks, Bells."

We sat around talking and relaxing when he asked me if I'd heard from Renee.

I swallowed a bite of ice cream as I nodded. "Yeah, she sent me an email yesterday."

I paused unsure on whether or not to continue, but I decided that Charlie should know. "She's marrying that Phil guy in October, and she wants me to be in her wedding."

He nodded as he continued to eat his ice cream, and I watched him closely to see how he took the news.

"I know," he said, shocking the hell out of me.

I put my spoon down and stared at him. "What do you mean you know?"

"She told me a few days ago, wanting to make sure I was okay with it."

"And are you?" I asked, not sure how he could be okay with the woman he loved getting remarried.

Charlie put his cup down and turned to face me. "I am. As much as I loved your mother and still love her, she deserves to be happy. If this Phil guy makes her happy, then I'm happy for her."

"Well, I don't know how I feel about it. He's practically my age!"

Charlie grinned and said, "He's not that young. But, if you don't want to go to her wedding, I won't make you. It's entirely up to you."

I was glad that Charlie wasn't going to force me to go since I was on the fence about it. Later that night before going to bed, I opened my email and replied to my mother and was honest with her. I told her that I wasn't sure how I felt about her getting remarried and to a man not that much older than me. I knew that the email wouldn't be what she wanted to hear, but I felt that I needed to tell her how I felt.

I was exhausted after I wrote the email and decided to relax by reading one of the many romance novels on my Kindle. Soon, I got lost in a world of vampires and werewolves where danger and romance lurked on every page. It was cheesy, yet exactly what I needed to free my mind for a while.

* * *

**a/n: As always, let me know what you thought. Personally, I was a bit meh about this chapter. It was sort of a filler. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Happy early Saturday morning! I guess I should say updated will be very, very late Friday or very early Saturday. I'm a third shifter therefore I'm a night owl. So big thanks for the reviews! And yes, we can all agree Edward isn't the brightest crayon in the box for staying with T. As always, I'm no SM, mistakes are my own.**

* * *

Monday morning proved to be the worst Monday morning of my life. I'd forgotten to set my alarm so I didn't wake up until seven thirty and seeing as how school started at eight and was forty minutes away, there was no way I was going to make it on time. I also wondered why Alice hadn't gotten a hold of me before remembering that she was riding with Jasper that day.

Scrambling, I took the quickest shower of my life, threw my hair in a messy bun, grabbed a t-shirt and jeans, slipped a pair of Toms on my feet and headed out the door. It wasn't until I was on the bridge that I realized that I'd left my backpack at home with my books and homework.

I had two options: turn around and get my bag, being even later, or go to school without it and getting a possible detention. Chances were, I'd get a detention either way and I decided to say screw it. I turned around once I was over the bridge and headed home, calling Charlie along the way and telling him all about my ordeal.

"Calm down, Bells. I'll call you in sick," he told me. "But, this is your one get out of jail free card. No more after this. Make the best of your hooky day."

I thanked him profusely and told him he was the best dad in the world.

I got home, said hi to Bob who was lurking about, then plopped down on the couch with my laptop on the coffee table. At around nine, I got a text from Alice asking where I was. I texted her back letting her know that Charlie was letting me play hooky and spent my morning watching horrible day-time TV, playinh games on Facebook, and reading.

Around eleven, my phone rang and I answered seeing that it was Alice.

"Oh, be glad you aren't here today," she said after I answered.

"Why? What's going on?" I asked.

"What isn't it? Today is freaking insane. You had the right idea staying at home."

"Alice!" I whined. "Tell me what's going on!"

"Felix got in a fight and got suspended, Tyler got caught in a compromising position with Victoria so they both got suspended, Emmett got detention for mouthing off to a substitute, and Edward broke up with Tanya," she said without taking a breath.

All my mind could focus on was that Edward and Tanya were no more.

"Bella? Bella!"

"Wha—sorry, I'm here. I was just processing everything. It's been a busy morning, huh?" I asked, hoping that my voice wasn't giving away my excitement about Tanya and Edward.

"It's like everyone's gone batshit crazy! I'm afraid to see what the afternoon brings," she said with a sigh. "I'll talk to you later. I'm gonna grab something to eat. Mind if I stop by after school?"

"Not at all," I told her.

The rest of my day was spent on the couch, giddy with the fact that Edward was single. I couldn't even tell you what I did with the remainder of my day because I was so lost in my thoughts. A ringing of the doorbell and Alice calling out my name finally interrupted my thoughts.

"You've got a turkey out there running in circles," she told me as I let her in.

"Yeah, that's Bob. He likes to hang out."

She rolled her eyes before sitting down on the couch and pulling out a notebook. She gave me the assignments that I'd missed which thankfully weren't a whole lot. Except for Calculus. I scowled as I looked at the paper. Two pages of math homework. _Ugh_. That would only take me all night to do.

We sat talking about how Felix had gotten into a fight with some homophobic jerk and how they'd both gotten suspended. Then, we talked about Tyler and Victoria, but the whole thing disturbed me and I really wanted the dirt about Edward and Tanya and Alice knew it.

"Alice! What happened with Edward and Tanya?" I asked, practically begging.

"Eager, aren't we?"

I shot her a look and she cracked up.

"Their relationship has been rocky since last spring break. Tanya and Victoria had gone to New Orleans with Tanya's family and apparently gotten wasted and did God knows what. Both girls claim not to remember all that happened, but rumor had it that Tanya cheated on Edward. Of course, Edward being the nice guy that he is, took her word for it when she claimed that she didn't.

Then one night, Edward went to visit Tanya and heard her flirting with some guy on the phone. He called her out on it, she claimed that he didn't trust her, argument ensued, but they got over it."

She took a breath, then started talking again.

"However, Edward's been a bit suspicious ever since. Can't blame him really. Then you came along and became friends with Edward, and Tanya got jealous. Well, you know that she demanded that he stop being friends with you, and that he told her no, right?"

I nodded.

"That pushed her over the edge. This morning she accused him of cheating on her with you. Obviously, that's not true, and he told her that, but she kept going on about it until Edward snapped. He told her that he was allowed to be friends with whomever he wanted and that she didn't get to dictate that. She told him to choose between her and you. He chose you."

_He chose me!_ My brain couldn't form a coherent thought other than that.

"Did I break you?" she asked.

"No, I was just thinking. I mean he didn't really choose me, he just chose the option that wasn't her."

Alice rolled her eyes at me. "Silly, Bella. The boy is crazy about you. Why do you think he was such an ass when he first met you?"

"Because he was having issues with Tanya," I told her.

She shook her head and patted my arm. "It's because he was attracted to you right away and that made him feel guilty because he had a girlfriend."

I must have looked skeptical because she nodded and reiterated that it was true. I wasn't so sure about that, but I liked to think that he found me attractive. Lord knew I thought he was. The boy was a freaking Adonis.

"… you should ask him out."

"Huh?"

"You should ask Edward out," she repeated.

I stared at her as if she'd grown an extra head. _Was she kidding? _I couldn't ask Edward out!

"I can't do that, Alice. Besides, he just got out of a relationship. I'm sure he wants time to be free and fly and all that jazz."

She crossed her tiny arms over her chest and glared at me. "Fine, but don't wait too long. Someone else might snatch him up, and then what? I know you're in love with him."

"No, I'm not," I denied.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Puh-lease. You're as in love with him as I am with Jasper. Oh! Did I tell you that Jasper is taking me to Mobile this weekend for a romantic dinner?"

And she was off and running, and I was glad for the change of subject. I wasn't comfortable talking about my feelings for Edward, even with my best friend. Besides, I wasn't in love with Edward. I just had a major case of the likes.

A little after six, Charlie came home, greeting both of us.

"I picked up some burgers and fries from the diner. Alice, honey, had I known you here I would've picked up some for you too."

"It's no problem, Chief. I have to get home anyway. See you tomorrow morning, Bella!" she called as she headed out the door.

"Did you enjoy your day off?" Charlie asked as we sat at the table and ate.

"Yeah, I did. Although, according to Alice, I missed one heck of a day at school. There were fights, indecent exposure, and break ups."

Charlie's eyebrows rose up. "That's a lot for a Monday."

"I know, right. I'm glad that I missed all the drama."

As we ate, I told him about Felix getting in a fight, about Emmett's detention, which didn't surprise Charlie in the least, and about Edward breaking up with Tanya.

"Well, I know that Carlisle will be relieved to hear that," he said around a mouthful of burger.

"Why?"

Charlie paused before speaking again. "Carlisle thinks that she was with Edward because their family has money, and he was worried that she'd try and trick Edward into marriage or something."

"I could see her doing that. She's not a very nice person."

The nice thing about takeout was that the cleanup was quick and easy. Once the table was cleared, Charlie hit up the coach, and I gathered up my laptop and headed to my room. I lay down on my stomach as I opened the laptop up and saw that I had an email from Renee.

I was hesitant to open it, afraid that she was mad at me. As I read the email, I was right. She wasn't just mad, she was furious. Called me ungrateful, hateful, and how I didn't want her to be happy. She told me not to bother coming to her wedding. I sighed. Sometimes dealing with Renee was like dealing with a spoiled child. It was all about her.

I replied back, telling her that I did want her to be happy. What I had intended to be a short email, ended up being quite long, and at the end I once again told her that I wanted her to be happy. We'd see how she responded.

I did want my mother to be happy, I was just weary about her marrying a guy so young. I knew that it wasn't that uncommon anymore, but I could admit that it bothered me. Disgruntled and a bit upset, I crawled into bed, double checking to make sure that I'd set my alarm.

* * *

Had I known what Tuesday would bring, that would've been the day that I'd skipped. Alice and I arrived at school on time and went our separate ways. I was at my locker putting away some books and grabbing others when I felt someone staring at me. I turned around and saw a group of three girls staring at me. The second they noticed me noticing them, they huddled together and began whispering. It was a bit unsettling.

It happened again in English. A couple of girls sitting behind me were whispering, and I heard my name come up along with Edwards. I chose to ignore them, focusing more on what Mr. Masen was talking about. As soon as class ended, I headed toward toward my dreaded math class that I shared with Alice. I plopped down next to her, asking her why everyone was staring at me.

She rolled her eyes as she replied, "Because they're idiots who have nothing better to do."

"Alice!"

"Tanya has started a rumor that you stole Edward from her, and got him to cheat on her. Who knows what else she's saying."

I couldn't believe it! Well, yes, I could. In all honesty, I shouldn't have been surprised. _What was that saying?_ Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And Tanya was totally acting very much the part of the scorned woman.

The staring and whispering only got worse as school went on, and by lunch I was ready to hunt down Tanya and set her straight. I sat down at our table and began to eat the nachos on my plate, doing my best to ignore Erik and Tanya who were talking loudly at a table near us.

"Hey, Edward," I said as he sat down across from me.

"Hey, Bella. Guess you've heard, huh?"

"That you and I had a secret affair that Tanya found out about and that's why she dumped you?"

He burst out laughing. "Actually, I heard that you corrupted me with your wildly, Yankee feminine ways, and I was helpless to resist, and that's why I cheated on Tanya."

"My wildly, Yankee feminine ways? Huh. I never knew I was so alluring," I said with a grin, glad that he could joke about things. I'd been a bit worried that he'd be upset with me for some reason, and I was relieved that he wasn't.

Edward shook his fork at me. "Oh, no. Don't think you can suck me in. I'm onto you, Swan."

I rolled my eyes at him and got distracted when Rose sat down swearing about cutting a ho. "I swear to God. If Tanya or Victoria utters one more bad word about you or Edward, I'm going to be doing some serious ass kicking. Fucking bitches!"

_Whoa. _I was a bit taken back by Rose's anger, but at the same time, I was glad to know that she had my back.

"They aren't worth the trouble, Rose," I told her. "But, I'm glad I've got you on my side."

"Yeah, yeah. But I mean it, Bella. Either of those two give you shit, you come to me. I have no problems putting them in their place," she said, pointing her fork at me before looking at Edward. "Same goes for you, pretty boy."

"You think I'm pretty?" Edward asked, pretending to be bashful.

"Oh, shut it," Rose said while Emmett made kissy noises as Edward.

"What about me, Rose? Aren't I pretty?" Jasper asked while poking out his lower lip in a pout.

"Of course. All you Cullens are pretty. Don't act like you don't know it."

She had a point. They were all pretty. Lunch was almost over when Erik stopped by the table. He looked pissed, probably because he'd spent all day listening to Tanya spew her vile lies. I wasn't sure how friendly everyone was with Erik, but I knew that he and I would never be friends.

"Edward, can I talk to you for a second?"

I wanted to tell him not to do but Edward nodded, grabbing his tray and throwing away his food before walking toward the cafeteria doors with Erik.

"I take it they're friends?" I asked.

Jasper shook his head. "They used to be best friends until about seventh grade. Erik's jealous of Edward and has been since Edward asked Tanya out freshman year."

"Oh. Well, now Erik can have a go at Tanya, right?" I asked. They shrugged.

The bell rang signaling the end of the lunch, and I gathered up my trash and pitched it before heading to art. Art had quickly become my favorite class until all the drama with Tanya had started. Now, I was going to have to endure her and Victoria for the entire class period, and I wasn't looking forward to it.

I walked in and took my spot at the table that I always sat at. I got out my sketchbook and began to doodle until class started. I loved that we didn't just sit and draw but got to learn about different artists and their techniques. This week, Mrs. Dormien was teaching us about using oil paints. I'd never really painted with oils before. I was more of a watercolor-colored pencil-charcoal-pastels kind of girl.

There were some easels set up in the back of the room, and I made sure to take one as far away from Tanya and Victoria as possible. I think Mrs. Dormien knew something was going on because she separated them much to their displeasure.

"Alright, first off, I want you to get a feel for the paint. You don't need a lot of it on your brush. Just a bit."

I dipped my brush lightly into the red on my palette and drew a few lines here and there on my canvas. The paint was smooth and soft; like butter. I played around with mixing the paints, grimacing at some of the colors that I created.

Taking my canvas off the easel, I grabbed a new one and began my actually painting. Mrs. Dormain wanted us to attempt a landscape, and I was more than willing to try. I knew exactly what I wanted to paint.

I lost track of time, my mind blanking out everything around me, allowing me to focus on only my painting.

"How's it going over here, Bella?" she asked, startling me.

"Oh. It's going good. I'm not sure that I like working with oil paints, but I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Excellent!" she said, giving me a smile. "Tell me about your landscape."

I explained that I'd watched a show about Antarctica on the Discovery Channel, and I was fascinated by the landscape. I did voice my concern that I was afraid that my landscape was too boring.

"I don't think it's boring at all. Look at all the different colors of white and blue your using. I think it it's very well done. Keep up the good work. We'll keep working on these for the rest of the week."

I felt good as she left and felt even better when I heard her criticizing both Tanya and Victoria. Apparently, neither girl had attempted anything that resembled a landscape and as class ended, I made sure to walk by both of their canvases. Both their canvases, had been painted one color. Tanya's was completely green. I don't know what landscape that was supposed to be, but it was obvious to me that neither of them had any artistic talent. I wondered why they were even in the class.

Gym was more volleyball torture, and I about called it quits when I got beaned in the shoulder with the ball. Edward got furious at the guy on the other team, but I told him not to make a big deal out of it. I was used to being picked on, and Edward eventually let it go.

"Can I ask what Erik wanted to talk about?" I asked Edward as we walked toward biology, afraid I was overstepping my boundaries.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Basically, it boils down to the fact that he thinks I'm an asshole, and I should be apologizing to Tanya for cheating on her. I explained, of course, that I'd done no such thing, but he refused to believe me. He buys every lie that Tanya tells him."

"Sounds like he's got a thing for her," I commented.

"He does. Always has. When I asked her out, he was furious."

"You'd think that he'd be all over her now that she's single," I commented.

Edward let out a laugh. "You'd think so, but apparently she told him that she loves me."

I about choked on my laughter. Tanya sure had a funny way of showing that she was in love, and I said so.

"I know, right," Edward said with a grin. "While I liked her, I was never in love with her. I highly doubt that she was or is in love with me."

I was very glad to hear that. I would've been devastated had he been in love with her. Not that it mattered. It wasn't like we were dating or were going to. Don't get me wrong. I wanted to date him more than anything, but despite what Alice had said, I didn't think Edward thought of me as anything other than a friend.

* * *

On Friday, I told Alice that I needed to stop by the art room to pick something up before we headed home. I found Mrs. Dormien at her desk and told her I was there to pick up my painting.

"It turned out beautifully, Bella. You're extremely talented."

I felt myself turning red as I mumbled a thank you, then headed to my easel with Alice following me.

"Holy shit, Bells! That is awesome! I can't believe you didn't tell me you could paint."

I shrugged but was more than pleased that she liked it. The painting had turned out far better than I'd ever hoped. While I still wasn't a fan of oil paints, the medium was something I might be tempted to use again in the future.

"It's just something I do once in a while to relax me. I haven't painted much since we moved here, so when I was signing up for classes I decided to take art and get back into drawing and painting."

"I'm so jealous. I'd love to be able to draw, but—well, you've seen me draw. I completely suck at it which doesn't bode well for my career as a fashion designer," she said with a huff. She was right. I'd seen her drawings and they were pretty good for a five-year old.

"Yeah, but you can sing like an angel while I sound like a record melting on a radiator. Everyone's good at something," I told her.

She continued to mumble about how unfair it was while I put my painting into my portfolio.

"Are we picking up Felix for the game tonight?" I asked once I had my stuff gathered and had waved goodbye to Mrs. Dormien.

Alice shook her head. "No, he's spending the weekend in Mobile with Marcus."

"How's that going?" I asked as we climbed into my truck.

"Good, I guess. He hasn't talked about it much. He's been awfully quiet lately. Have you noticed that?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I've noticed, but I figured he'd tell us when he's ready. I don't want to pry and overstep my boundaries. I mean, I haven't been friends with him as long as you have."

"You wouldn't be prying; you'd be a caring friend who's worried. If he doesn't return my call by tonight, I'll drive up to Mobile and make him talk to me," she said, and I knew by the look in her eye that she was dead serious.

After I dropped Alice off at home and promised to pick her up a little before six, I headed home. Having some time to kill before the game started, I figured I'd get a head start on my homework before checking my emails. Before long, my brain was tired of trying to figure out my calculus homework, so I checked my email. Once open, I scanned the contents and saw that I had an email from Phil Dwyer. I was fairly sure that was the name of Renee's boyfriend.

Frowning, I clicked on it and slowly began to read the email.

_Dear Bella,_

_I know that we've never met, but I'm writing to you on behalf of Renee. Now, I don't know all of what was said between the two of you, but I do know that Renee is quite distraught._

_I love your mother greatly, and I'm looking forward to making her my wife. She was beyond thrilled to be planning our wedding and to have you be a part of it. But now, she rarely speaks of the wedding and rarely speaks of you._

_I know that you are both probably upset with one another, but I'm begging you. Please make amends._

_Sincerely,_

_Phil Dwyer_

I sat back and stared at the email. My feelings were all over the place. Part of me was a bit pissed that this Phil guy decided to take it upon himself to email me and ask me to make nice with Renee. Obviously, he didn't realize that I'd tried that and gotten nowhere. I hadn't heard back from her since the last email I'd sent her.

I decided to put off replying to him for the moment. I had a football game to get ready for. The weather was still fairly warm, so I donned a pair of capris and a cute shirt. Sandals were slipped onto my feet,and my hair was put into a ponytail.

At five-thirty, I gave Charlie a courtesy call to let him know I was headed to the game, then drove over to Alice's house. I found her waiting impatiently on her porch and laughed as she practically bounced over to my car.

"I thought you'd never get here!" she exclaimed once she'd climbed in.

"What's the big deal? It's not like you haven't gone to the a game before," I said.

She looked at me like I was an idiot. "Do you have any idea how important tonight's game is?"

I shook my head. I assumed it was just a regular game.

"Tonight's the first game against our largest rival, the Mobile Gators! They've kicked our ass the past few years for state champs. But not this year. This year, we will win!" she shouted.

_Crazy Southerners and their football. _It was kind of scary.

"Well, alright then."

By quarter to seven, we had found seats near Esme and Carlisle. I'd noticed that Rose's parents didn't show up to see their daughter cheer, and when I'd asked Alice about she'd told me that Rose's dad was always busy with his shop, but that he tended to show up for championship games. She didn't mention anything about Rose's mom and I didn't want to pry.

"I hope the boys are ready to bring their A game," Alice told the Cullens.

"I have no doubt they will. I know that the boys are itching to win against Mobile," Carlisle told us.

I had thought that the entire city of Riverton had turned out to the first game, but that was nothing compared to tonight. It seemed as if the entire state of Alabama had shown up. The bleachers were jammed packed, and Alice was practically sitting in my lap. Good thing she was so tiny and light.

Most of the night was a blur. There was a lot of screaming and shouting; whooping and hollering. By the time the game was in the last quarter, my ears were ringing and my voice was hoarse. However, the last throw of the game had everyone holding their breaths.

I watched as Edward threw the ball, and we all watched as Jasper ran to catch it. It was as if time slowed down until the ball landed in Jasper's hands. A roar went up in the crowd, and Jasper began running as fast as he could. He threw the ball to a guy named Derrick, and Derrick ran it in for a touchdown. The game had been won, and it was as if the stadium erupted. The bleachers trembled as fans stomped their feet in celebration and even more screaming and shouting took place.

I grinned as I watched Carlisle sweep Esme into a hug and then plant a rather passionate kiss on her lips. While I didn't know them all that well, it was so obvious that they were extremely in love. It gave me hope. I wanted to find a love like that.

Rose climbed up the bleachers to hang out with us as we waited for the boys to come out of the locker room. About thirty minutes later, the three boys came out, huge grins on their faces.

"Whoohoo, baby! Did you see that? We kicked Gator ass!" Emmett hollered as he swept Rose up in his arms and twirled her around.

"Put me down you big oaf!" she shouted with a grin, so we knew she didn't really mean it.

"Awesome game, guys!" I told them before I was wrapped up in hugs by each of the boys.

"We were awesome, weren't we?" Jasper said after he let go of Alice's lips.

"Of course you were," she said, her eyes never leaving his.

We all headed out to the same diner that we'd gone to last week, and I learned that it was tradition to go there after the game no matter if they won or not. And hey, who was I to argue with tradition? Besides, The Neptune Diner, while it had a silly name, had excellent food. Even better, this time around, there was no Tanya or Victoria sitting with us.

I ended up between Edward and Emmett, and I was all to aware every time Edward's arm brushed mine.

"Got any plans for the weekend?" Edward asked me after we'd placed our orders.

I shook my head. "Not really. I think Charlie wants to go fishing on Sunday, but other than that, I'm doing nothing."

"You like to fish?" he asked.

I nodded. "I love to fish! Charlie took me out for the first time when I was about three. It's something that we've always done together."

Renee had always hated that I'd always wanted to go fishing whenever Charlie went. They'd fought about it more than once because she had been afraid that he was turning me into a tomboy.

"Fishing, painting. Is there anything else I don't know about you, Bella?" Alice asked.

"Painting?" Jasper asked, looking at me. I shot Alice a glare. I wasn't ready to tell everyone about my painting.

"She's awesome. She painted this really cool landscape for her art class."

All eyes were focused on me, and I felt myself blushing. "I like to draw and stuff," I mumbled, staring at my plate.

"That's fantastic. I dabble in watercolors myself," Esme told me.

"Well?" Alice asked.

"What?" I asked.

"Any other things I need to know?"

I thought about it. "I don't think so. I like to read, draw, fish, and hunt."

"Wait. You hunt?" Emmett asked. "Like hunt as in shoot things?" I nodded.

"You know how to shoot a gun?" he asked as if to clarify.

Again, I nodded. "Uh, yeah. My dad's a cop. He made sure that I knew how to properly hold, clean, and shoot a gun. I'm not a bad shot if I say so myself." The boys all stared at me, mouths open.

"Holy shit, that's hot," Emmett said, causing me to crack up.

"You really hunt?" Edward asked, looking at me like he'd never seen myself.

"Sure. My grandpa lives in small town called Forks, about three hours from Washington. It's a great place for hunting, so we'd go out there every deer season. It's not like we kill the deer then stuff them or anything. We cook the meat and give the deer hide to some of the folks on the reservation that's near Forks. Dad doesn't believe in wasting parts of the animal."

"You are a surprise," Edward murmured.

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but I chose to think it was.

After dinner, Alice let me know that she and Jasper were going to hang out a bit. I nodded as I shoved my wallet into my back pocket.

"Okay. Have fun, you two," I told them as I waved goodbye.

Carlisle and Esme had left about ten minutes before everyone else had decided to leave. Emmett and Rose were headed off to do God knew what, so that left me standing in the parking lot with Edward.

"So, uh … I guess I'll see you later," I said as I made my way toward Magnolia.

"Bella, wait," Edward said, and I stopped and turned to face him.

He was rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, and he looked nervous.

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tomorrow? We could just hit up the beach or something, if you want?"

I couldn't have contained the blush or the smile that graced my face to save my life.

"I'd like that."

His smile lit up his whole face. "Great! How does ten sound?"

"Sounds great. I'll see you then."

"Awesome. Be safe driving home, okay?"

I nodded and managed to contain my squeals until I was safely in my car and on the road. I knew better than to talk on my cell while driving so I waited until I pulled into my driveway before calling Alice. I didn't care that she was out with Jasper at the moment. I needed a girlfriend to talk to, and I wasn't about to interrupt Rose and Emmett.

Alice answered her phone and before I said a word, she started squealing. "He asked you out, didn't he!?"

I held my phone away from my ear, not wanting to bust my eardrums. "Well, it's not really a date, I don't think. But he did ask me to hang out at the beach with him tomorrow," I told her.

"I knew it! I told you that he liked you!"

"And you were right," I said with a grin.

"Of course, I was right. Hello? This is me we are talking about."

We chatted and giggled for a few more minutes before I let her get back to her date with Jasper. As I climbed out of my truck, I debated on what to tell Charlie. I decided to just let him know that I was hanging out with Edward, which was true. Since I wasn't sure it was a date there was no point in getting Charlie all worked up. He didn't do well when I dated.

"Hey, kiddo. How was the game?" he asked as I walked into the living room.

I dropped down on the couch before giving him the highlights of the game.

"We still on for fishing on Sunday?" he asked when I was done.

"Yep. It's been too long since we've gone."

"Tell me about it. Billy's letting me borrow his fishing boat so we can head out into the Gulf."

"Sweet. I can't wait to go," I told him.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?" he asked me.

Taking a breath, I told Charlie that I was hanging out at the beach with Edward. He was quiet for a moment before speaking.

"Are you two dating?" he asked, his cheeks turning a light pink.

"No. We're just friends, Dad. Besides, he just broke up with Tanya. I highly doubt he's ready to start dating right away."

"But you like him as more than a friend?"

"Yeah, I like him as more than friend," I said quietly.

"Well, things will work out if they're meant to," he said, and I hoped he was right.

* * *

**a/n: So, I'm curious. How many of you can draw? I myself cannot draw to save my life. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Happy Friday! Thanks for the awesome reviews. On you go.**

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I woke up wide awake a little after eight and immediately a goofy smile came across my face. I was going out with Edward today!

After I'd showered, I contemplated on what to wear. I needed Alice and her fashion advice, but I knew better than to call her before ten on a Saturday, so it looked like I was on my own. I opened my closet and debated. I finally settled on a cute blue sundress that I'd gotten when I'd gone shopping with Alice. It was simple, yet pretty and I could wear a bathing suit underneath it.

Once that was settled, I had to decide on what bathing suit to wear: the one piece or the bikini. Feeling brave, I put the bikini on, then slipped the sundress over my head. I brushed my hair, deciding to leave it down and then slipped some sandals on my feet. Looking at myself in the mirror, I figured I looked good enough, then I headed down the hall to the kitchen.

I wasn't surprised to see Charlie sitting at the table reading the paper. He was an early bird even on the weekends.

"Morning, Bells. You look pretty."

"Thanks, Dad," I said as I popped a Pop-Tart in the toaster.

The next hour and half dragged by, and I felt as though ten o'clock would never arrive. I paced, I read, I watched TV, and I Facebooked. Finally, the doorbell rang at five to ten. I rushed to get it, but Charlie beat me to it.

"Morning, Edward."

"Good morning, Chief Swan. Is Bella ready?" Edward asked.

"I sure am. I'll see you later, Dad," I said, pushing past Charlie and walking out the door, shutting behind me.

"Do you have a swimsuit with you?" Edward asked as we walked down the steps. "I figured we'd go swimming or something while we were at the beach."

"Yup. Got it on underneath my dress."

"You look real pretty. I like that color of blue on you," he said as he opened my door for me.

My poor cheeks felt like they were on fire, and I mumbled out a thank you. He looked mighty fine himself, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

"I figured we could hit up one of the smaller beaches at the end of the island, if that's cool with you? Less chance of being annoyed by Emmett," he said as he slid his sunglasses on.

"Sure."

He shot me a smile and my insides melted.

"Excellent. Emmett's a bit put out that I didn't want to hang out with him today, but I told him I had plans with you."

As we drove to the end of the island, the houses became larger and more spread out, and finally Edward pulled to a stop along the side of the road.

"Is it okay to park here?" I asked.

"Yeah, I've got a beach permit. It allows you to park along the road down here. C'mon and help me grab the stuff out of the trunk."

Curious as to what he'd brought, I opened my door and me him at the back of the car. He opened the trunk and handed me a blanket and some towels, while he grabbed a raft, a Frisbee, an umbrella, and a small cooler.

After he shut the trunk and locked the car, we made our way down the sand. I helped Edward spread the blanket out and watched as he stuck the umbrella in the sand.

"Do you have any sunblock?" I asked him before we got settled in.

"Sure do. Hang on a sec and let me grab it."

I watched as he raced back to the car and came back carrying a large bottle of sunblock. I took it from him and proceeded to slather my arms and legs with the lotion. I had debated on whether or not to remove my dress when I saw him whip off his shirt, leaving him in only his board shorts. _Hello, hotness!_

Gathering my courage, I slipped my dress off and asked him if he could put some lotion on my back. I nearly let out a moan when his large, warm hands began to smooth the lotion into my skin. It felt fantastic.

"Care to do mine?" he asked once he was done.

I gladly reciprocated, loving the way his skin felt underneath my hands. I never wanted to stop touching him, but I figured he'd get a bit suspicious if I kept rubbing his back. Reluctantly, I moved away and handed him back the bottle of lotion.

"Thanks, Bella."

"Sure," I said, knowing that my cheeks were pink. They tended to stay that way around him.

We sat on the blanket and talked while we waited for the lotion to soak in, and I tried not to think about the fact that I was sitting on a beach blanket in a bikini next to Edward. It was like something out of my fantasies.

"Do you miss Seattle much?" Edward asked out of the blue.

"Not as much as I'd thought I would. Besides, no one in Seattle seems to miss me much," I muttered.

"What do you mean?" he asked, a frown on his beautiful face.

"My best friend—sorry, former best friend, whom I've known since kindergarten decided that we aren't friends anymore. It was partially my fault because I forgot to email her or text her sometimes because I was busy hanging out with you all , but she didn't even have the decency to tell me. I just happened to notice on Facebook that we were no longer friends."

"Her loss, our gain," he said with a small smile.

"I suppose so. I felt bad that I had ignored her, but I also needed to make friends here, you know."

"I get it. What about your mom? She's not in Seattle, right?"

I shook my head. "No, she moved to L.A. with some guy she met on the Internet. She's getting married next month," I told him, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

"Do you not like him?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I've never met him, although he did email me yesterday asking me to make amends with my mom."

Noticing the puzzled look on Edward's face, I filled him in on the drama that was Renee.

"It's not that I don't want her to be happy; I do. I just don't think she's thought things through, but he apparently wants to marry her. I sent her an email apologizing, but I haven't heard back from her. Instead, I get an email from him. I'm still not sure how I feel about that."

"Well, hopefully it will all work. I'm sure your mom will apologize. I can't imagine her not really wanting you in her wedding."

"Yeah, I guess," I said with a shrug before standing up. We'd been talking long enough and it was quite warm, so I was more than ready to get in the water. Edward stood up as well and asked if I wanted the raft.

"Sure," I said, taking it from him and running toward the water with Edward right behind me.

The water felt fabulous and after dunking underneath it, I climbed onto the raft while Edward floated on his back next to me. It was so nice to just relax and be. I couldn't have done that back in Seattle. We stayed and played in the water until we both began to prune, then we headed back to the shore.

"Are you hungry at all?" Edward asked as he dried off before sprawling out on the blanket.

"A bit," I told him. "But not hungry enough to leave."

"No worries. I've got some pb&j sandwiches in the cooler along with some water."

I finished drying off, then sat down beside him. I took the sandwich that he handed me, moaning as the wonderful flavor of peanut butter and strawberry jelly hit my tongue.

"Thanks," I said around my food.

"No problem. Thanks for agreeing to hang out with me," Edward said, giving me that smile that made me feel funny inside.

"Like I would say no?"

"Well, you could have. For all I knew, you had a date or something."

_Was he fishing for information? _I wasn't sure, but I was more than willing to put his mind at ease. "No worries there. No boys have asked me, with the exception of you asking me to hang out today."

He looked surprised, and I had to admit it did wonders for my ego. "Really?"

"Really."

"Huh. Tyler was bragging about going out with you next week," he said before taking a sip from his bottle of water.

"Who the heck is Tyler?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

I saw Edward start to grin before he hid it. "You met him at the clambake along with Erik, Jessica, Ben, Lauren, and Jane."

I vaguely remembered them. "Do his go to our school? I don't think I've seen him around."

"Yeah, he does. Tyler's a senior along with Jessica and Ben. Erik is a junior like us, and Lauren and Jane are sophomores."

"Oh. Well, rest assured I'm not going out with Tyler. You'd think that he'd at least ask me before going around telling the world that we're going out," I said with a shake of my head.

"Would you want to go out with him?"

"No. I obviously wasn't impressed enough to remember who he was, so I highly doubt I'd be interested in going on a date with him. What about you? You ready to jump back into the dating pond?"

He was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "I guess it would depend on the girl. If it was someone I was really interested in and that I really liked, I could see myself dating sooner rather than later."

I wasn't sure what to make of that. "So, if a girl asked you out and you liked her, you'd say yes?"

He looked me in the eye as he responded with a yes.

"Wouldn't you worry about what people would think? I mean you and Tanya were together for two years."

"I could care less about what people think to tell you the truth. The only people's opinions that matter are those of my friends and family. As for being with Tanya for as long as I was; I think it was more habit than anything. I'm sure Alice told you about Tanya's trip to New Orleans?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah, well after that things pretty much went downhill. Our breakup was inevitable and in all honesty, should have happened a long time ago."

My mind took it's time processing everything that he had said. If I understood correctly, he would be more than willing to date right away, assuming the right girl asked him out. Taking a deep breath and gathering all of my courage, I hoped to hell that Alice was right and I was the right girl.

"So, if I asked you to go out on a date next week, you'd say?"

"Absolutely," he responded with a smile.

"Really?" I asked, my voice squeaking a bit and the blush on my cheeks darkened.

"Of course. I've been attracted to you since I met you. I admit that's one of the reasons I was such an ass. I didn't want to be attracted to you, especially since I had a girlfriend at the time."

I was pretty sure I was in shock. _Edward wanted to go out with me! _I decided to make the date inquiry official.

"Edward, would you like to go out to dinner and a movie next Saturday?"

"Why, Bella, I'd be delighted," he said, his voice deepening and his drawl becoming thicker. I couldn't contain my cheesy grin, and I was glad to see him sporting one as well.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the water and playing more twenty questions. Apparently, Edward wanted to know every little thing about me. I was more than willing to tell him whatever he wanted to know as long as he answered the questions I asked.

"Do you want to follow in your dad's footsteps and be a doctor?" I asked as I floated on the raft in the ocean once again.

"No. I thought about it, but I really want to be a marine biologist. I'd love to study and learn more about the marine life that surrounds us. What about you? A professional extreme fisher-woman? A starving artist?"

I shook my head as I splashed him with some water. "I'd actually like to be an illustrator of children's books."

"That would be a cool job."

"I think so."

At around six, both of our stomachs rumbled, and we decided to head in and dry off. We gathered up all the stuff and headed back to Edward's car.

"Wanna hit up the Loon Cafe for some dinner?" he asked once we were in the car.

"Sounds good."

Fifteen minutes later, we were seated at booth near a window, and I shot Charlie a quick text letting him know where I was and that I'd be home later. I got back a text that was filled with errors but basically said okay.

"What's so funny?" Edward asked.

"Charlie Swan can't text," I told him with a grin, showing him the text with its asterisks and mistyped words, and he let out a snicker.

Soon, I was chowing down on a chicken sandwich with a side of coleslaw when I heard some girls whispering behind us.

"Oh, my God. He's here, Jane! It's like fate or something, I'm telling you. I mean what are the chances that I'd see him here today of all days?"

"I think you have groupies," I whispered to Edward, giggling when he made a face.

"I know, right? You should totally go ask him out. I'm sure he'd say yes. I mean, how could he not? You're Lauren Mallory."

Oh, good lord. They were something else.

"But he's with some girl," Lauren said to Jane, their idea of whispering not being all that quiet.

"She's a nobody, and you're much prettier," Jane assured Lauren.

"Lies," Edward whispered, leaning toward me. "You're much prettier than she is. And much more mature too."

"I assume you're referring to my behavior and not my age?" I joked.

"Of course," he replied with a wink.

I was just finishing up my fries while trying to keep Edward from stealing them when the girls finally approached our table.

"Hi, Edward," Lauren said in what I guess was supposed to be a breathy voice.

"Hey, kids," he said, and it was almost comical the way their faces fell when he called them kids.

"Um … great game last night," Lauren finally blurted out after a few awkward minutes of silence. It was taking everything in me not to burst into giggles at their behavior. Edward thanked them, and then the two girls scurried away.

"Not one word," he warned me.

That was all it took and the giggles burst forth. I felt bad for them, especially Lauren, but at the same time it was hilarious.

"C'mon, crazy girl. Let's go," he said. I'd tried to split the bill and pay for my half, but he had refused.

It was a little after seven when we pulled into my drive.

"I had a great time today," I told him, sad that it was ending.

"Me, too. I can't wait to go out with you next weekend. I mean, whatever will I wear," he said in a falsetto voice.

Rolling my eyes, I smacked his arm.

"Hey, now. You can't go beating me up. I'll tell your dad."

"And he'd say I was justified."

"Yeah, he probably would," he said, then we sat there staring at each other for a moment.

"Well … I should be heading to bed soon. Four am arrives early."

Edward winced. "That's way too early."

He opened his door then walked around and opened mine before walking me to the door. It felt as if we were on a date. We said goodnight and then Edward placed a kiss on my cheek.

"See you Monday."

I waved to him as he walked away because I'd lost the ability to speak. I felt as though I was floating on a cloud as I walked in the door.

"Hey, Bells. Did you have a good time?" Charlie asked as I entered the living room.

I sat down on the couch and nodded. "I had a great time. I … uh, I asked him out on a date, and he said yes."

Something which I still couldn't believe.

"Well, of course he did. Why wouldn't he want to go out with you? But didn't he just get out of a relationship?" Charlie asked, going into full-blown dad mode.

"He did, but from everything I've heard, their relationship had been on the rocks for a while. It's just one date, Dad. If things don't work out … well, I'll cross that bridge if I come to it."

"I just want you to be careful," Charlie said.

"I am, Dad. Promise."

He nodded before shooing me off to bed.

A little after four, my alarm went off, and I smacked the damn thing until it finally shut off.

Grumbling, I got in the shower, then dressed in a pair of old capris, an old shirt, and a jacket for just in case. I tossed on a pair of boat shoes and made my way into the kitchen where I found a way too cheerful Charlie.

It took twenty minutes before we had all our shit gathered and another ten before we got on the road. We drove down past the campground to one of the boat unloading areas, and I stood by and watched as Charlie got the boat in the water and then helped him load all the stuff in.

Once the boat was in the water, I climbed in and put my life vest on while Charlie parked the car. After Charlie climbed in, he started the motor and we were off. The wind was a bit nippy so I was glad I'd grabbed a jacket to take with.

A few miles out, Charlie cut the engine and handed me my fishing pole. I took it from him, enjoying the feel of it in my hand. It had been too long since we'd gone fishing. I think the last time we'd gone was the week before my parents had told me they were getting divorced.

I checked the line and the rig on my pole before opening up the tackle box he'd set on the floor. I wasn't a big fan of fishing with live bait, so I chose a sparkly lure while Charlie equipped his own pole with a worm.

I cast my line, then sat back to wait. Renee had always complained about how boring fishing was, but I found it extremely relaxing. Sure, it was a test in patience and a complete waiting game, but it was so rewarding when you caught a fish.

The sun was beginning to rise, and I lifted my face to the sun. It was going to be a good day; I could tell. One of the things I loved most about Charlie was that he was quiet like me. He didn't feel the need to fill the silence with asinine chatter like Renee would have.

We sat in silence until a tug on my line caught my attention. Immediately, I sat up and grasped my pole, slowly reeling the line in.

"Fish on!" I told Charlie as I saw a fish flailing in the water.

Charlie was at my side in a second and watched as I began to reel in my catch. The fish put up a fight, but thankfully it wasn't a long one. I reeled it in and Charlie let out a whoop.

"Nice catch, Bells!" he said as he got a measuring tape.

There were all kinds of regulations for saltwater fishing and we were only allowed to catch so many fish of a certain type and they had to be a minimum of roughly twenty inches.

"We got a keeper!" Charlie crowed with delight before putting the fish in the cooler we'd brought with.

As we sat on the boat fishing, I told Charlie about the email from Phil and asked him if I should respond or just ignore it. Charlie frowned, a bit concerned that Phil was able to get my email and contact me.

"I want to run a background check on this guy. I don't like that he's emailing you out of the blue and without Renee's knowledge. Hold off on emailing him back for now until I know more."

I totally agreed, glad I'd gotten Charlie's advice before getting back to Phil. I think Charlie was just as concerned as I was. I knew that he still cared and probably still loved Renee, but I had no delusions they'd ever get back together.

A little after eleven, we headed back to shore. The sun had become brutally hot and the fish seemed to have stopped biting. All in all, we'd done quite well and would have plenty of fish to stock in the freezer. We'd caught two red snappers, four yellowtails, and three groupers.

Charlie hooked the boat up to his SUV, then we stopped at the fish weighing station at the dock. We handed over our catch and watched as the dock master logged the type, weight, and length of each fish. He was there to make sure no one went against the rules, and if you did, there would be large fines to pay. Once we were deemed good to go, we climbed into the SUV and headed home.

Charlie decided he'd rather gut the fish at home than at the dock, so after we arrived home, he headed out to a small table he'd set up a few weeks ago. While I loved fishing, gutting was one thing I hated doing and Charlie knew it. Thankfully, he didn't make me help him this time.

An hour later, he came back in smelling like fish guts. I took the clean fish from him and put them in bags that I then stuck in the freezer except for two. I figured we'd grill out the red snappers for dinner, so I set them in the fridge.

Charlie went off to shower, and I headed to my room and checked my phone. I had a text from Edward that had been sent a little after seven that morning. He'd wished me good luck and hoped that I'd catch some fish.

I sent him a quick text letting him know that we were home and that we'd had good luck. Seconds later my phone rang, and I eagerly answered it.

"Hi, Edward!"

"Hey, Bella. I figured you'd be out fishing all day," he said, his smooth velvet voice making me melt.

"We probably would've but the sun was starting to bake us and the fish weren't biting any more, so we came home."

He let out a little laugh. "You Yankees need to work on your sun exposure. You're in Alabama now. It's sunny here most of the year."

"Yeah, yeah. I need to learn to deal with the heat as well. I'm not used to it being so warm."

Edward and I talked for a few hours before he had to go. He was working the dinner shift at the country club, and I expressed my surprise. I hadn't realized that he was still working there while going to school.

"I'm not really. I just cover when they need extra hands, and hey, the money doesn't hurt."

I didn't say anything, but it was obvious to me that the Cullen kids didn't need to worry about money. They drove nice cars, lived in an old plantation mansion, and wore the latest fashions according to Alice.

"I could use with some money, but Charlie doesn't want me working during the school year. Makes it kind of difficult to save up for college."

"Still planning on going back to Washington for college?" he asked.

"I'm not sure anymore. I've got a while before I have to make that decision."

"Very true. Well, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

We hung up, and I wandered outside, grabbing my watering can and filling it with water. My plants and flowers weren't thriving as well as I'd hoped. As I was watering them, I noticed that some of the leaves looked like they'd been chewed on. I was pretty sure Bob was to blame for that. I didn't know what wild turkeys ate, but he'd better stop eating my flowers if he didn't want to get eaten. Thanksgiving would be coming up soon, and I wasn't opposed to cooking him, and I told him so.

"Talking to Bob again, Bells?" Charlie asked, coming out on the porch.

"Look what he did! He's been eating my flowers!"

"I don't think he eats flowers …" he trailed off as the look that I gave him. "Well, I'm just going to go watch the game."

That was probably the real reason that we'd come back early, but I wasn't complaining. I'd spent the past two days in the sun and my body was feeling the effect. That, and I'd gotten a bit burnt on my face, shoulders, and arms.

By seven, I was curled up in my pajamas in my bed, finishing up my homework. Dinner had been delicious, and I was now full and sleepy. I was struggling through the last of my math homework and the second I was done, I tossed my math book on the floor. I never wanted to see it again.

I must have dozed off at some point, but I woke up when Charlie poked his head to tell me that he had to head to the station. One of his deputies was sick, so he needed to cover his shift. I felt bad for Charlie. He'd been up since about four and now he was going to be at work until at least seven the next morning.

"Be safe," I told him.

He promised he would be, and I rolled over, set my alarm, and fell asleep dreaming about Edward.

* * *

**a/n: I just want to reiterate that updates are every Friday unless something comes up and I can't update. So tell me, have you ever gone fishing? If so, did you like it?**

**I've been fishing a handful of times and found each time more boring than the last.**


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews last chapter. I'm going to warn you right now that this chapter comes with an **angst warning**.

* * *

I was nervous, like more nervous than I'd ever been before. I hadn't been this nervous when I had my first kiss or when I'd started school here. I was a huge, wobbly mess of nervousness.

"Bella, calm down!" Alice hissed at me.

I couldn't help myself. I had a date with Edward tomorrow night, and it had hit me all at once, hence my nerves. It didn't help that I hadn't seen Edward once today. Granted, it was still morning, but normally he met me at my locker and we walked to our classes together or hung out. But not today.

"Have you seen him?" I whispered to her.

She shook her head before pulling out her phone and sending a text, most likely to Jasper. A few seconds later, I caught her looking at her phone.

"Jasper doesn't know where he is," she whispered when our teacher wasn't looking.

"What?!"

Before she could respond, our teacher called on her to answer a question. By the time class ended, I was quite upset.

"What does he mean he doesn't know where he is?" I asked the minute we were in the hallway.

"Ask him yourself," she said as Jasper came down the hall.

Immediately, I assaulted Jasper with questions to which he didn't have answers for. Well, not answers that I liked anyway.

"His car is here, but he wasn't in class this morning," Jasper explained.

"Do you think he's sick or something?" I asked.

Jasper shrugged. "I don't know. I've sent him a few texts but haven't gotten anything back."

Scowling, I pulled out my phone and called Edward. I got no answer, so I called it a few more times with the same results. Huffing, I hung up my phone. I was starting to get pissed. _Was he avoiding me? Had I done something wrong?_

When lunch rolled around, I was bordering on furious. I strolled out to the parking lot, scanning for his Volvo and found it parked in its usual spot. So he was at school. I didn't feel like eating with my crew, so I sat down at one of the picnic tables and pulled out _Wuthering Heights_. I was almost done with it anyway, so I decided I might as well finish it.

As I was sitting there, a movement from near the gym caught my eye. Imagine my surprise when I saw Tanya walking out from around the building with Edward in tow. I narrowed my eyes, telling myself that it wasn't what it looked like. They were broken up and from what I'd gathered, Edward certainly hadn't been thinking about a reconciliation.

I watched as Edward ran a hand through his hair, tugging on the strands as he stopped beside her. I couldn't hear what was being said, but he nodded his head before heading out toward the parking lot. Tanya walked away, meeting up with Victoria, and I didn't care for the smug look that was on her face. She was up to something, and it probably wasn't good.

I sent Alice a text explaining what I'd seen, she responded back with a _wtf_. My thoughts exactly. Figuring the only way to figure out what was going on, was to approach Edward directly. He'd walked right past, not even noticing me in his determination to get to his car. Well, he'd just have to wait to go anywhere. I wanted answers, and I felt that I was deserved them.

"Edward!" I called out as I rushed to catch up to him.

He stopped, his shoulders drooping, and I frowned. That wasn't an encouraging sign.

"Yeah?" he asked without turning around.

"Yeah? Really? That's all you have to say? I've been worried about you all freaking morning because you aren't responding to anyone's texts or calls, and all you have to say is yeah?"

He turned around to face me, but he wouldn't look me in the eye. "I was busy," he mumbled.

"So busy that you can't bother to show up to class or return calls from your friends or your brother?"

I got no response.

"I see. Well, this is great. Should I assume that you don't want to go out tomorrow night?" He nodded then turned and climbed into his car without a word.

That one simple nod broke my heart in two, but I was not going to cry. I wasn't. At least not at school. I'd wait until I got home before I lost it.

Slowly, I trudged my way back into the building and headed to art class. Mrs. Dormien was allowing us to paint whatever we wanted and my painting was dark and sad. I could hear Tanya and Victoria giggling nearby, and I almost lost it when I heard Tanya say that she and Edward were back together.

I clutched my brush tightly in my grasp before attacking my canvas. Dark blues and angry reds covered the once white canvas, and in the end large streaks of black took over. I was glad that Mrs. Dormien left me alone, because I didn't want to have to explain my painting to her. Although, I felt it was pretty self explanatory. Anger, betrayal, darkness.

As the bell rang, I said fuck it, and decided to cut the rest of my classes. There was no way I'd be able to concentrate. I barely remembered the drive home and more than once I had to pull over as the tears fell hard enough to diminish my sight.

Once home, I sent Alice a text stating that Edward hated me. It wasn't long before I got a call from her.

"What's going on?" she asked after I answered.

"I don't know. What I do know is that he came around the side of the gym with Tanya and they looked pretty fucking friendly. I decided to ask him what was going on, and he told me had been busy, but he wouldn't look me in the eye. Then when I asked him if we were still on for our date tomorrow he shook his head and climbed into his car!" I wailed, the tears falling once more.

"That asshole! Oh, wait until I get my hands on him! I'm going to break him into tiny pieces," she threatened.

I couldn't respond because the tears were falling too fast. I was so mad at myself for falling for him. He'd been an asshole to begin with and it looked like he still was. Had he been nice to me out of guilt or was it some twisted bet like in one of those horrible teen movies?

"I'm going to have Jasper and Emmett talk to him after they kick his ass," she told me.

When Charlie arrived home at six, I was curled up in my bed, pajamas on and angry music blasting. He stuck his head in, but quickly left when he saw how upset I was. I wasn't ready to talk to him yet, and I knew that he'd hunt Edward down and shoot him. While the idea had appeal, I didn't want my dad going to jail for murder or attempted murder.

Later that night, I turned my laptop on and logged into Facebook. I hadn't been on more than a few minutes when my chat popped up. It was Emmett and he demanded to know what was going on. I told him that I was as clueless as he was.

_I heard some shit that E is back with T. I know that aint true,_ he said.

I wrote back saying that I'd heard Tanya telling Victoria that they were dating again. Emmett couldn't believe it. He told me he'd talk to me later, that he had an asshole to go talk to. I wished him luck; he'd need it.

In a moment of rashness, I decided to un-friend Edward. He'd obviously decided he didn't want to be friends with me anymore in real life, so why should I bother to be friends with him on Facebook. It hurt clicking that button that would no longer let us be friends, but I felt it was the right thing to do. Of course, I was regretting it moments later and the tears that I was tired of shedding came back.

I spent all day Saturday curled up in bed, watching movies on my laptop. Anything to make me feel better and keep my mind off Edward. A little after one, there was a knock on the door and Charlie came into my room to let me know some of my friends were there.

Seconds later, Jasper, Alice, Rose, and Emmett were walking into my room. I looked like crap, but at least I wasn't still in my pajamas. Alice hopped up on my bed, while Jasper took a seat on the desk chair, and Emmett sat on the floor with Rose next to him.

"What's up?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

The four of them shared a look, and I didn't like it. Something was obviously wrong, and they apparently didn't know how to tell me.

"Just tell me," I said, shoving my messy hair out of my eyes.

"Our brother is a fucking asshole. He told me that he and Tanya had reconciled," Jasper said quietly.

I stared at him like he'd grown another head. "Are you fucking kidding me? Just the other day he was saying that he was glad they'd broke up, and now they're back together? Is she pregnant or something?"

I'd asked it jokingly, but all their faces showed that I had guessed correctly.

"Oh, please tell me you're kidding?" I begged.

Emmett shook his head. "Mom and Dad are beyond furious. Dad was berating him about how stupid he was, while Mom was going on about how she couldn't believe how irresponsible he'd been, and of all the girls he had to knock up, it just had to be Tanya."

"It's probably not even his," Alice growled out, and I agreed with her. I could just see Tanya telling Edward she was pregnant to keep him around.

"Is she really pregnant or she just saying she is?" I asked. Jasper told me that Tanya had shown Edward a test that was positive.

"Yeah, but did he watch her pee on it? For all we know she had someone else pee on it and then she showed it to him," I said, disgust in my voice. Disgust that Tanya was vile enough to do something like that, and disgusted that Edward had fallen for it. But more than that I was disgusted that Edward hadn't talked to me about it.

"Regardless of whether or not the bitch is knocked up, he had no right to treat me the way he did. All he had to do was explain things to me," I told them.

* * *

The month of September passed by slowly, and October was finally upon us. Edward all but ignored me, and I him. Although, on more than one occasion, I'd wanted to smack him in the face and ask him why he was so stupid.

As for Tanya, well for someone who was a pregnant teen, she sure was cheerful. Maybe she was hoping to get on that ridiculous MTV show. Looking at her and her behavior, you'd never guess that she was going to give birth to a demon child. Of course, I wasn't convinced that she was pregnant at all.

Actually, none of us were except Edward. Ever since he and Tanya had gotten back together, he'd gone downhill and fast. He was no longer the star quarterback, but the reserve quarterback. Coach Clapp had benched him after he'd played one too many shitty games. Jasper said his grades were suffering as well, and I could tell by looking at him that he wasn't eating. He'd lost too much weight and looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

After a horrible gym class (we'd started basketball), I headed to biology and took my seat next to Edward. Not that he noticed because he'd angled his chair away from me and was busy doodling in his notebook as per usual. Mr. Banner began class and told us that we'd be doing dissections and a big science project the following week, and that we'd be partnered up with the person sitting next to us.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," I muttered, less than thrilled. Funny how quickly times changed. A few months ago, I would've been thrilled. Now, I didn't want anything to do with him. Edward turned and gave me a glare.

"Oh don't even pretend like you're thrilled to be working with me. It's obvious that what friendship we had is over. Don't worry though. I'll do my part and you can do yours. You won't even have to talk to me," I told him.

"Whatever," was his response. Scowling, I turned my attention back to Mr. Banner and listened to him drone on and on.

After school, I headed to the grocery store to grab some food that Charlie had asked me to pick up. While I was in the cereal aisle, I ran into Esme.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't see you," she told me, and I noticed how stressed she looked. She had dark circles under her eyes, and I knew that it had to do with Tanya and her little, well-timed announcement.

"How are you?" I asked her.

She set the box of cereal she'd been holding in her basket before answering me.

"I'm sure you've heard by now?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Jasper and Em told me. I'd thought I'd done something to make Edward mad at me since we were supposed to go out that Saturday," I told her.

"To tell you the truth, dear, Carlisle and I are furious and upset with both of them. But, it was it is, and we'll all have to learn to make do with the situation."

I was a bit surprised that she was so calm about it. I'd have demanded proof that Tanya was pregnant. We chatted for a few minutes more before going our separate ways.

I went home and unloaded the groceries only to realize that I'd forgotten to get the charcoal that Charlie need to grill out the steaks he was planning on making for dinner. I could have called him and had him pick it up on his way home, but I wasn't ready to sit down and do homework, so I climbed into Magnolia and headed back to the store.

I had just come out of the store and was putting the bag in the back of the truck when I saw Tanya and Victoria walking toward the back of the store.

"Oh, come on, Vicky. Give me a cigarette would you? I'm fucking dying for one."

I watched as Tanya lit up, and it only confirmed my suspicions that she was lying about being pregnant. If she really was pregnant, would she be as stupid as to smoke?

Unfortunately, I was so busy spying on them, that I lost my grip on the bag of charcoal and it landed with a loud thud in the bed of the truck.

"What are you looking at Swan?" Tanya sneered.

"A liar," I responded before pulling out my phone and snapping a picture of her with her cigarette. She tossed the cigarette down and started toward me, but I was quicker and climbed into my truck and roared out of the parking lot. I didn't know what I was going to do with the picture because sadly, it didn't really prove anything except Tanya had little regard for her unborn child.

As soon as I got home, I uploaded the picture to my laptop and saved it. I would show it to Jasper, Emmett, Alice and let them decide if I should do anything with it. Although, really? What was I going to do with it?

Charlie's cruiser pulling into the drive interrupted my thoughts, and I headed into the living room to greet him. As we sat eating the awesome steak he made for dinner, he asked me if I was ready to tel him what was going on. I was fairly certain that he'd heard the rumors by now. How could he not? It was a small town that had nothing better to do than gossip.

"I'm sure you've heard by now about Edward and Tanya, right?" I asked between bites.

He frowned. "Emily mentioned that they were back together."

"Yeah, well, apparently Tanya's knocked up. I'm not buying it. Seems a bit too convenient if you ask me."

"How's that?"

I set my fork down before speaking. "I'd asked Edward out for the Saturday before he and Tanya got back together. He'd said yes, and I believed that he really was excited about it. Don't you think it's a bit strange that Tanya comes up with the whole 'oops I'm pregnant' bit the day before he and I were supposed to go out on a date?"

Dad didn't say anything for a moment. "It does seem a bit suspicious," he finally said.

"Plus I saw her outside smoking earlier today."

"Sadly, not every expectant mother heeds the warnings of not smoking, so that doesn't prove anything. I take it this is why you've been so down lately?"

I nodded. "I really, really liked Edward a lot and then the day before our date he wouldn't even talk to me. I had to find out about the whole Tanya thing from Jasper and Emmett. I just wish someone would confront Tanya about her lies, because there is no doubt in my mind that she's lying."

"You need to stay out of it, Bella. No. Don't argue with me. It's between Tanya, Edward, and their parents. You need to let them figure things out."

"But—"

"No, Bella," Charlie said firmly. "I know that you're upset and angry, but you need to let them figure things out. I imagine this can't be easy for Carlisle, Esme, or Edward."

I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled. I didn't want to leave it alone, but I knew that Charlie was right. Technically, it was none of my business, especially since Edward and I were no longer friends. But at the same time, I still cared about Edward and only wanted the best for him, and Tanya was not what was best for him!

* * *

October had somehow flown by and now we were only weeks away from Thanksgiving, but I wasn't really looking forward to the holiday. With all the Edward drama I'd completely forgotten that Charlie was looking into Renee's boy toy and Charlie had found out that Phil was twenty-three and had just graduated from college with a degree in sports management or something. The guy was playing triple-A ball for the L.A. Dodgers farm team, and he seemed to check out. Charlie had told me that it was up to me if I wanted to email him back.

So I had. I'd emailed Phil and explained that I'd tried to contact Renee but had gotten no response. I told him that I was done contacting her until she made the effort to contact me back. He'd never responded, and I'd never heard back from Renee, so I had no idea if she had married him or not. I couldn't find it in myself to care at the moment, although I did still worry about her.

Things with Edward had only gotten worse. Our science project was pretty much done via email since he was busy dealing with Tanya and the impending spawn of Satan. Turned out that I'd been wrong. The wicked witch really was pregnant, but I still had doubts as to it being Edward's.

From what Jasper and Emmett had told me, Edward was talking marriage which had Tanya thrilled beyond belief, but Esme and Carlisle wouldn't allow it to happen until a paternity test proved the baby was Edward's.

You would have thought that Tanya's pregnancy would have diminished her popularity status, but it hadn't. It only seemed to make people want to be around her more. I couldn't figure it out. _What about being a pregnant teen was so cool?_ I guess MTV's _Teen Mom_ show or whatever the hell it was called, made teen pregnancy appealing for some stupid reason.

I was sitting in biology when Edward came in and stopped at Mr. Banner's desk. I don't know what he said, but Mr. Banner looked over at me before turning his attention back to Edward. I narrowed my eyes and wished that I could read lips. I swore that if Edward tried to throw me under the bus regarding the project I would kick his ass.

Sure enough as soon as class was over, Mr. Banner asked to speak to me. I shot Edward a dirty look as he got up from our table, before I walked up to the front of the classroom. Once everyone had left, Mr. Banner began talking.

"I have to say that overall I was impressed with your report, but I was informed that you didn't participate in the actual experiments."

"Well I would have, had a certain individual bothered to tell me when he was doing them. Kind of hard to do a project with someone when they won't speak to you," I said, not even bothering to hide the contempt in my voice that I felt for Edward at the moment.

"Here's what I'm going to do, and I'll tell him the same thing. I'm going to allow you both to redo the project, but you both have to work together. I want it handed in by the end of December, okay?"

I nodded, thankful at least that I hadn't failed but extremely furious at the same time. I headed out to my car but instead of going home, I headed over to the Cullen house. I pulled into the drive, parked, then got out and knocked on the door. Esme answered it and gave me a hug.

"Is Edward here?" I asked her.

He'd pretty much gotten kicked off the football team, so he no longer spent the afternoons at practice. I knew that he was working a lot, saving up money and whatnot for the child that I was positive wasn't his.

She nodded. "He's in the living room with Tanya," she told me, practically sneering the girl's name.

I thanked her and headed into the living room where I found an annoyed looking Edward listening to an over-enthusiastic Tanya going on about something. She stopped when she saw me.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped at me.

I ignored her, knowing that if opened my mouth, I'd say a few choice words and then get arrested for beating up a pregnant chick. Turning to Edward I said, "Mr. Banner says we need to work on the project together this time, and it's due by the end of December. So, let's figure out right here and now when a good time to work on this is, because I refuse to fail because you're being an asshole."

"Whenever, I guess," he said with a shrug.

"No, not whenever. We're going to sit down and figure this out right now. Believe it or not, I have other things to do, so we need to figure the schedule out," I said, hands on hips.

"He's busy right now," Tanya said, stepping in front of me. I fisted my hands into the fabric of my shirt knowing that I was mere seconds from hitting her.

I took a deep breath before saying, "Well, I'm sure he can spare a few minutes of listening to your asinine chatter to talk to me."

Tanya looked like she was about to say more but Edward told her it was fine. I shot her a smug look.

"No, it's not fine! You and I were having an important conversation and she just burst in here!" Tanya said, stamping her foot.

I rolled my eyes at her childish behavior. "First of all, the conversation couldn't have been that important because Edward looked annoyed to death. Second of all, I didn't burst in here. Esme let me in. If you have a problem with that, take it up with her."

Tanya let out a hpmh noise and opened her mouth, but Esme came into the room and told Tanya she thought it was time she left. Tanya started to whine that she wasn't done talking to Edward, but Esme shut her up pretty quickly and all but shoved her out the door.

"Of all the girls you had to get pregnant, it had to be that one!" Esme said to Edward as she walked back into the living room. "Of course, we don't actually know that it's your child. It could be anyone's! She's just like her mother. You know her mother got pregnant with Tanya so that Milton would marry her. Guess the apple doesn't fall from the tree."

"Mom!" Edward shouted.

"What? You know it's a possibility. We warned you about her when you first started dating, but you didn't listen and then look what happened. You broke up with her and suddenly she's pregnant with your child."

I felt a bit uncomfortable standing there while they were having their discussion, but I really did need to stay and figure things out with Edward. Edward gave Esme a glare and Emse threw up her hands in defeat.

"Fine. I'll drop it for now," Esme said before leaving the room.

Edward looked uncomfortable, and I wanted to soothe him and tell him things would be all better, but I couldn't and I wouldn't.

"So, what afternoons are you free?" I asked.

"I'm free Mondays and Tuesdays. I work at the club the rest of the week until nine," he told me.

"What about weekends? I assume you're free then since you don't hang out with your friends or family anymore."

He shot me a dirty look. "I've been busy."

I snorted. "More like avoiding."

"You don't know anything," he scowled.

"Oh, but I do. Because unlike you, I talk to Jasper, Emmett, and our friends. Do you have any idea how upset Jasper and Emmett are that you don't talk to them? They're your brothers for crying out loud!"

"Back off, Bella. It's none of your fucking business. Now, are we going to figure this out or not?" he snarled.

"Fine, we'll meet Mondays and Tuesdays after school, and for a few hours on the weekend. Don't worry. I won't make you spend anymore time with me than necessary. God knows you don't want to," I told him, hoping that I'd kept the hurt out of my voice.

"Fine," he said before standing and heading down the hall.

I was not going to cry at how abrupt he was. I wasn't. Taking a deep breath, I stood up and went to find Esme. I found her in the kitchen and let her know that I was going.

As she wrapped me up in a hug, she whispered in my ear, "Don't give up on him."

I nodded, not having the heart to tell her that I was fairly certain that things with us were over before they had begun.

* * *

**a/n: Now before you hunt me down and throw things at me, remember that I love drama and angst, and you'll get your HEA ... eventually. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hoo, boy! I sure managed to piss some of you off last chapter. I can't really apologize for that. It's all part of the madness. Thanks so much for the reviews for last chapter. They're read and appreciated. For those that don't know HEA stands for Happily Ever After. Something I firmly believe in. It just tends to take my characters a while to get there. **

* * *

The following Monday afternoon, I walked up the steps of the Cullen house wanting to be anywhere else but there. Taking a deep breath, I rang the door bell. Edward opened the door and I let out a gasp at his appearance. He hadn't been in school that day and now I saw why. He looked horrible. His eyes had bags under them and they were red and tired looking. His skin had an almost deathly pallor to it, and he looked almost as pale as I was.

He gave me a weak smile and gestured me in. I walked inside, waiting as he closed the door then followed him into the living room.

"Edward—" I began, at the same time he said, "Bella." I gestured for him to go first, but he shook his head and gestured for me to go ahead.

"It's obvious you don't feel well. Why don't we postpone this for another day," I said.

He shook his head. "It's okay. I'd like to just get this over with." And what little bit of sympathy I had for him flew out the door when he spoke.

"Fine," I growled out, pulling stuff out of my bag and trying not to be hurt by his attitude.

"Bella," he said with a sigh.

"What?" I snapped.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

I sat back, crossed my arms over my chest, and waited for him to explain what he was sorry for. He kept his gaze on his hands, wringing them together before he spoke again.

"I'm sorry that I've been a complete asshole. This whole thing with Tanya has thrown me for a loop, and I've been lashing out at everyone. I talked with Jasper and Em last night, and they basically kicked my ass."

When I didn't say anything, he started talking again.

"I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness but as Jasper pointed out to me, I need all my friends to help me through this mess. So if I have to, I'll get down on my knees and beg for your forgiveness because I truly am sorry for the way I've acted and treated you. I thought about a lot last night, probably why I couldn't sleep, and realized just how badly I'd treated you. Again, I'm really sorry," he said, looking at me, and I swore I saw tears in his eyes.

I was telling myself to be strong and not to give in, but I couldn't hold a grudge against someone who looked so broken. If anything, I wanted to reach over and give him a hug, but I decided against it. Then I thought, well, why not? Friends hug each other, don't they?

So, I did. I leaned over and gave him a hug, telling him I forgave him. He clung to me, burying his face in my hair, and I held on tight. Eventually, I pulled away and cupped his face in my hands.

"I swear to God, Edward that if you ever pull this kind of shit again, I will kick your ass! Is that understood?"

He nodded.

"Okay, well then, I suggest we get this freaking project started."

Before I knew it, four hours had passed and Charlie had called, concerned that I wasn't home. It had completely slipped my mind to call him. I let him know that I was at Edward's and immediately, he was worried. Excusing myself, I walked out onto the deck to talk to Charlie.

"I'm fine, Dad. He apologized, and we're trying to be friends again."

"You're too forgiving," Charlie said with a sigh.

"I know, but this whole pregnancy thing has really thrown him for a loop."

"Fine, but I swear if that boy hurts you again, I will hunt him down and shoot him," he warned. He probably would, too.

I hung up and walked back into the living room, taking a moment to soak in the beauty that was Edward. He looked a bit better, but I had a feeling that until things with Tanya were figured out, he was going to keep looking down. As I headed back to the couch, his phone rang, and a scowl came over his face.

"Tanya," he said, before answering the phone.

"… No, I can't …. because I'm working on my science project with Bella," he said. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I could hear her screeching from where I was sitting.

"No, Tanya. I've told you time and time again, you don't get to dictate who my friends are. Yes, we've made up, and yes, I'm going to hang out with her."

She went about yammering at him and finally he cut her off.

"I'll talk to you later. Don't forget my parents invited your parents over tomorrow night so that we can deal with this situation."

He hung up and ran a hand through his hair, tugging hard on the strands.

"Well, sounds like you'll have a fun afternoon tomorrow evening."

He barked out a harsh laugh. "Fun isn't the word, I'd use. Her father always hated me, now he despises me."

I didn't know what to say. "Maybe he can learn to like you for the sake of his grandchild."

"Assuming it's mine, right?" he asked. I didn't want to fight with him, but I nodded in response to his question.

"I honestly don't think it's yours. I'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear, but it's how I feel. I just find it awfully convenient that she's suddenly pregnant with your child right after you break up with her and are about to go on a date with me."

Edward's head tilted to the side as he thought about what I said. "The timing does seem a bit suspicious, but Bella, if it is my kid, I have to be there for him or her."

"I get that, but that doesn't mean you have to marry Tanya or even stay with her. How many parents stayed together for the sake of their kids only to ruin their kids lives? Too many," I told him.

"I know. I've got a lot of things to think about and figure out."

Later that night after I got home, I couldn't help but hope that Edward realized that staying with Tanya wasn't the best course of action. I also really, really hoped the baby wasn't Edward's. I didn't want it to be his, and I felt a bit guilty thinking that.

The next day was a lot better than the past few weeks had been. A lot of it had to do with the peace that Edward and I had made. He greeted me in the morning, and he sat with us at lunch much to Tanya's disapproval.

After school ended, I wished Edward luck with the meeting of all the parental units and then headed out for ice cream with Felix and Alice. Felix had been a bit distant and the whole Edward situation had left me so upset that I'd failed to be a good friend.

"It's okay, Bells," Felix told me after I apologized for neglecting him.

"No, it's not. You're my friend, and I've been a horrible one. So, tell me. How are things with Marcus going?"

A huge smile spread across Felix's face and a slight blush rose up on his cheeks.

"That good, huh?"

"He loves me," he told us quietly, causing Alice and I to break out into girly squeals before wrapping our arms around him. I think we were almost more excited than he was.

We spent a few hours catching up with Felix telling us all about how Marcus went about telling him he loved him. It was so freaking romantic, and I longed for that kind of romance.

"How about you, Ali?" Felix asked. "Has J uttered the L word?"

A small smile played over Alice's lips which we took as a yes.

"When, how, where?" Felix demanded to know.

Alice let out a laugh. "It only happened last night. We'd gone for a walk on the beach before he went home to talk to Edward, and we were just talking and he kind of blurted it out. It was quite sweet. And of course, I reciprocated."

I let out a sigh. Everyone around me was falling in love. Next thing I knew, Charlie would be telling me that he was in love with someone. Not that I would mind horribly if he found someone. Chances were good he'd get remarried before I even got a freaking date.

A little after eight, I was sprawled out on my bed, reading _The Outsiders_ for English. It was once again, I book that I not only owned but loved. It was freaking fantastic, and the movie that was based on it had stayed pretty true to the book. We'd been watching the movie in class as we read the book and we'd have to write paper comparing the two when we were done. So far, I had to say that English was my easiest class.

Math on the other hand, was a foreign language and if it wasn't for Emmett's help, I'd be failing. As it was, I was getting a "C" in the class. I was pretty happy about that, but it sure didn't help my GPA at all.

"Hey, Bells?"

"Yeah, Dad?" I asked, looking up from my book.

"I'm heading into the station. Sam had to run home, something about his daughter being sick."

"Okay."

Much to Sam and Emily's disappointment, Leah and I hadn't become best friends or friends at all for that matter. I'd been introduced to her one afternoon, but it was clear that she had no interest in being my friend and that was fine by me.

By nine-thirty, I was ready to call it a night. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, tossed my pjs on, and climbed into my bed. I was snuggled under my covers, lights off, when my phone rang. Groaning, I reached for it.

"Hello?"

"Bella?" came Edward's voice. Immediately, I was awake.

"Do you have a moment to talk?" he asked me.

"Of course. How did things go?"

He let out a heavy sigh, and I took that as a sign that things hadn't gone so well.

"It was a nightmare. Mom all but accused Tanya of trying to trap me into a loveless marriage and told her right then and there that she would never allow me to marry her."

Silently, I was applauding Esme.

"Of course, that only caused Tanya's parents to get defensive and before I knew it, both our parents were shouting and fighting."

"That sucks," I commented, thinking how uncomfortable that would have been to watch.

"Oh, and it got worse. Mom demanded a prenatal paternity test, and I thought for sure Tanya's mother was going to lose it. It didn't help that Tanya was screeching about how she wouldn't do it and Mom couldn't make her. Which led Mom to threatening them with a court order if necessary."

"Wow."

"Yeah, neither Mom nor Dad want me to end up trapped and they, as well as myself, want to know that the baby is mine before we do anything. I thought a lot about what you said, and I have to agree that the timing was suspicious."

We talked for a while more, and I was glad we were talking again. I'd missed Edward being my friend, and I'd missed talking to him.

"Shit," he said halfway through our conversation.

"What?"

"Tanya's calling me," he said with a sigh. "I'd better answer it, or she'll show up over here, and I don't want to deal with that."

"Okay, well let me know what's up."

"I will," he promised. "Thanks for being my friend, Bella."

"You're welcome."

My sleep that night was restless. I dreamed that Tanya and her demon babies were taking over the island, and all my friends were turning on me. I woke up pissed off and ready to do battle. Not the best way to start the day.

I got to school and the last person I wanted to see was Tanya first thing. Alice had called me when I was halfway to her house only to tell me that she'd caught a ride in with Jasper and Edward. I was a little annoyed that she hadn't called me earlier to let me know. Then, I'd gotten stuck behind some grandma who drove twenty the whole freaking way.

I'd ended up parking in the back of the lot since there weren't any other spots, I'd had a handful of minutes to make it to English, and of course I managed to run into Tanya as I was running down the hall.

I was almost to my English class foregoing my locker, when she stepped in front of me. I barely managed to stop and not run her over.

"I know what you're up to Swan, and it's not going to work," she spat out, hands on her hips.

"And I know what you're up to, and it's not going to work," I told her, watching anger sweep over her face.

"You don't know anything!"

"Whatever. The paternity will prove it's not Edward kid, and then what Tanya? You'll actually have to go out and get a job to support your kid as opposed to tricking a man into being your baby-daddy."

"You bitch!" she screeched out and raised a hand and started to swing it toward me.

I couldn't hit a pregnant girl. Hell, I couldn't hit anyone, but she made me want to. However, I wasn't going to stand there and let her hit me. I was weighing my options when Mr. Masen opened the door and gave Tanya a look.

"I'd suggest that you get to class, Tanya, and if I see you raise your hand to another student, you will be suspended. Is that understood?" he asked her. She nodded, giving me a death glare the whole time.

"Bella? Why don't you take your seat?"

"Thanks, Mr. Masen," I said in a low voice as I walked passed him and sat at my desk. He gave me a small nod, and then began class.

As the bell rang, I gathered up my stuff and was almost out the door when Mr. Masen called me over. Sighing, I walked to his desk and watched as my fellow peers walked out.

"Is everything okay, Bella? You've seemed a bit off the past week."

I was touched by his concern. Back in Seattle, my teachers had barely known my name. "I'm fine. There was some personal stuff going on," I told him, having no doubt that he knew about the whole Tanya pregnancy thing.

He nodded. "Well if you need to talk, you can come to me or your guidance counselor. Okay?"

I nodded and gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Mr. Masen, but things are slowly being righted."

The rest of the morning passed without incident, but I did notice Victoria lurking about wherever I happened to be, and I also noticed that when I said hi to Edward in the hallway between classes, that she ran off. Probably to tell Tanya that I was talking to her supposed baby-daddy.

It was in art that things took a turn for the worst. I should've been prepared, but I didn't honestly think that Tanya or Victoria would be stupid enough to do anything with the teacher around. I was wrong. Mrs. Dormien had us working on still-life paintings, allowing us to pick an object in the room to paint. I was busy painting a still-life of an awesome, yet crazy vase that she had sitting on her table. It was the ugliest vase I'd ever seen, yet I was totally drawn to it. Literally.

She'd excused herself to go work on some grades in her office, leaving the class to paint by ourselves. Which was fine because we were juniors in high school not kindergarteners.

I could hear Tanya and Victoria at their easels behind me, and I didn't notice that Tanya had moved until paint spilled not only all over me, but all over my canvas as well. It could've been accident, but we all knew it wasn't.

"Oops," she said. "Here, let me help you."

"No thanks," I said refusing to turn around and acknowledge her. It was hard, but I was attempting to be the bigger person.

"No, really. Let me clean it up," she said, and I felt water splash all over my back.

That was it. I knew that if I touched her she'd find a way to get me in trouble, so I took a deep breath and turned around.

"Congratulations, Tanya. You've just gotten a harassment charge filed against you," I told her before I stalked off to the art room office where Mrs. Dormien was.

"Mrs. Dormien?"

She looked up and let up a gasp at my appearance.

"What in the world?"

"Tanya," was my reply, and I watched as her lips tightened. "May I be excused? I need to call my father to see if he can't bring me a change of clothes."

She nodded and wrote me a pass before calling Tanya into her office.

With paint and water dripping on the floor, I walked out the door and to the girl's bathroom. I did my best to clean up the mess, but it was pointless. Thankfully, classes weren't out yet. After I mopped up the best I could, I headed to the office and asked to speak to the principal.

"Miss Swan, what happened?" he asked when he saw me.

So, I told him. I told him about Tanya and her veiled threats, about her raising her hand to me this morning, and about the "accident" in art class.

"I'm tired of being the brunt of her jealousy. I know that she's pregnant and all that, but I refuse to be her victim. I'll be calling my father and filing harassment charges against her, and I want her punished! I shouldn't have to deal with her bullying. No one should."

He nodded his head and told me to go ahead and call Charlie, while he talked to Mrs. Dormien, Tanya, and Mr. Masen.

"Bells? What's wrong?" Charlie asked as soon as he picked up.

"Tanya."

"What did she do?" he asked.

"Tried to slap me this morning but Mr. Masen stopped her, and then in art class she spilled paint all over me then doused me in water. I'm fed up with it. I refuse to be bullied by some lying, pregnant bitch! I want to file harassment charges against her."

"I'll get the paperwork started," Charlie said calmly, but I could hear the underlying anger in his voice. "Do you need me to bring you some clothes or something?"

"Please."

While I waited for Charlie in the office, I sent out a mass text to my friends letting them know what was going on. Moments later, Alice popped into the office and gasped when she saw me. I guess I really did look a mess. I was covered in bright red paint and my clothes were soaked as was my hair which was also sporting red stains.

"Holy crap, Bella! She sure as hell got you good, didn't she?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, but I'll have the last word. I'm having Charlie file harassment charges against her."

"Good for you."

We talked for a few minutes and asked her to let the others know I was fine, just pissed. She agreed, gave me a hug as best as she could without getting paint on her, then headed off to class.

Fifteen minutes went by before I saw Mrs. Dormien and Tanya walk into the principal's office. The door was shut so I couldn't hear what was going on, but I did manage to hear Tanya screeching like a banshee. Eventually, the door opened and Tanya was told to take a seat while her parents were called. She sat down and shot me several hostile looks. I didn't know what she was so upset about. She'd brought this on herself.

It wasn't long before Charlie showed up.

"Geez, Bells. You're a mess," he said, handing me a small bag with clean clothes in it.

"Tell me about it," I said through gritted teeth, shooting Tanya a look. I got a snide smile in return which Charlie happened to notice.

"Go change while I talk to the principal," he said.

I rushed down the hall to the closest girl's bathroom and changed. There wasn't much I could do about my hair so I put up in a messy bun, grimacing at the feel of drying paint in it. I shoved my paint-covered clothes into the bag, then headed back to the office. I walked in and found Tanya's parents sitting next to her, talking in hushed tones. As I took my seat, her mother shot me a nasty look. It was easy to see where Tanya got her bitchiness from. I'd been sitting there for a few minutes enduring the withering looks being shot my way, when the door to the principal's office opened and we were all asked to go in.

Mr. Greene gestured me toward a chair across from his desk, then directed Tanya toward the other. I scooted as far away as I could without being too obvious about it. Mr. Greene turned his gaze toward Tanya and her parents who were standing behind her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Denali, we have a serious problem. Tanya has demonstrated some rather disturbing behavior today, and I'm afraid I can't allow it to go on."

Mrs. Denali sniffed and looked down her nose at Mr. Greene. "What are you talking about? Tanya would no such thing."

"Tanya raised her hand to slap Bella this morning, then she threw paint and water on her during their art class."

"Lies," Mr. Denali said. "Tanya would never do that."

"Oh, I assure you she did," I sat, quieting after Charlie squeezed my shoulder.

"There were witnesses to both incidents, and they confirm what Bella has told me."

"Then obviously Tanya was provoked. She wouldn't harm a fly unless she had to defend herself," her mother insisted.

Mr. Greene shook his head. "There was no provocation of either incident. You must understand that I cannot allow bullying to go unpunished."

Tanya and her parents put up a huge fuss, denying everything, but Mr. Greene wasn't buying it. But all hell broke loose when Charlie informed them that Tanya was going to be charged with harassment. That was when Tanya let loose. She started screaming that I was jealous of her and doing this because I wanted Edward.

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but saw Charlie shake his head. I gritted my teeth and let her continue her mad rant. When it was finally over, she'd succeeded in making a bigger fool of herself than she already had.

"Are you done?" Mr. Greene asked.

Tanya was breathing heavily and she looked a wreck but she nodded.

"Good. I don't want anymore temper tantrums being thrown. You're being suspended for two weeks, and during that time I expect you to think about your behavior and we're it's landed you. You will also right a five thousand word essay on why bullying is wrong and what can be done to prevent it. As for the harassment charges, you'll have to take that up with Chief Swan," Mr. Greene said, and I watched as Tanya's face began to turn purple.

Another tantrum was about to occur, and her parents must have sensed it because they hauled her up and tried to leave the office. Charlie, however, wasn't about to let them leave just yet. He got up and headed out the door, leaving me to sit with Mr. Greene. I really wanted to get up and follow him out the door so I could hear what was being said. Instead, I got to listen to Mr. Greene apologize that this had been allowed to happen.

Minutes later, Charlie came back with a small smirk on his face.

"Is it okay if I take Bella home for the day?" he asked.

Mr. Greene nodded, and I followed Charlie outside. When I asked him what happened, he told me he'd tell me at home. I sent off a text letting the others know that I was heading home if they wanted to stop by later. As soon as I pulled the car in behind the cruiser, I jumped out and began questioning Charlie.

"Hold your horses, Bells. Let me get the door unlocked first. Geez, kid."

I waited impatiently for him to open the door and once he had, I made a beeline for the couch, dragging him with me.

"Talk!" I demanded.

He let out a chuckle before finally putting me out of my misery. "I told the Denalis that just because Tanya was suspended didn't mean that I wouldn't still file charges against her. Her parents begged me to change my mind. Claiming that their daughter couldn't do jail time, blah, blah, blah."

I narrowed my eyes. "So, she's not getting harassment charges filed against her?"

"No and honestly, Bells, I don't know if the charges would stick. I decided that a couple hundred hours of community service might do her some good. She'll be picking up trash, volunteering at the local soup kitchen, and helping to clean up the docks near Pelican Beach."

"Hmph. Well, at least that's something, and it's something that she'll hate."

"You going to be okay for the rest of the day? I have to head back to work."

I nodded. "The gang might stop over later."

"That's fine. I'll be home around seven."

As I watched him walk out the door, I wondered what exactly he did all day. It wasn't like Wild Turkey was filled with crime.

A little after five, my doorbell rang, and I opened the door to find the gang, Edward included, on my porch.

"Come in, come in," I said, holding the door open. One by one, they filed into the house and convened in the living room.

"Place looks a lot different with your stuff in it," Edward said, and I realized with a jolt that he hadn't been inside my house since he helped us move in. Everyone else had, but not him.

"Yeah, it's home now."

Alice had gotten up and was looking at one of my paintings on the wall. It was a painting of a man in a boat on the ocean during a storm.

"You painted this, didn't you?" she asked. Before I could respond, she began nodding and talking again. "You did. I can see it now. Did you paint all of these in here?"

"No, just that one and the one of the Seattle skylight."

I was a little embarrassed at how much attention everyone was suddenly paying to my paintings. It wasn't like they were done by Picasso or anything.

"These are really awesome, darlin'," Jasper said, and my cheeks lit up with a blush.

"Thanks," I mumbled, praying someone would change the subject.

Thankfully, Edward must have read my thoughts. "What happened today, Bella?"

Immediately, the attention was focused not on me and not my paintings. Taking a breath, I told them everything that happened. From Tanya's attempt to slap me to the paint and water being poured on me.

"She's a fucking fruitcake!" Rose said, extremely irritated. "Did she really think she could get away with it?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, but it was obvious that she meant to throw paint on me. You don't accidentally spill a shit ton of paint on someone, and if you're going to help someone clean up paint, you don't pour water over their head. It was so obvious, not to just me, but to my other classmates that it was intentional."

"What happened to her?" Emmett wanted to know.

"She got suspended for two weeks, and Charlie is making her do like two hundred hours of community service in exchange for not charging her with harassment."

"What kind of community service?" Alice asked.

"Trash pick up, soup kitchen, and cleaning the Pelican Beach docks."

A roar of laughter erupted into the room.

"Serves her right."

"Oh, she'll hate that!"

"She'll bitch the whole time!"

The gang was still there when Charlie came home a little after seven. He said hello to everyone, although he shot a glare in Edward's direction, and I shot Charlie a look that said to behave. Charlie asked if they wanted to stay for dinner, and Emmett told him it depended on what Charlie was cooking.

"I don't cook, kid. You'll have to ask Bells."

I rolled my eyes. It was just like a man to invite people to say for dinner, then expect the woman to cook.

"Fine, but you're all helping if you're going to be eating."

I stalked over to the fridge and opened it, noticing a roll of ground beef that I'd been letting thaw.

"I can cook burgers if you want?"

I got a resounding yes from the masses, so burgers it was. While I was preparing the meat, I had Alice, Rose and Jasper cut up tomatoes, onions, and lettuce. While they were doing that, I made Edward and Emmett cut up potatoes and slice them so I could make homemade fries.

Once I had the burgers patties made up, I handed them off to Charlie to put on the grill. I wasn't so great at grilling, but Charlie was pretty decent. Once Charlie had the burgers, I shooed everyone out of the kitchen and began to fry up the potatoes. I winced as a splatter of oil hit my skin, and let out a hiss.

"Everything okay?" Edward asked from behind me, startling me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got hit with a bit of oil. Can you tear off a bit of that aloe plant for me?"

I watched as he carefully tore a small bit off, and then he took my hand and rubbed the aloe on it. Goosebumps erupted over my skin at the feel of his hand on me.

"Thanks," I told him, hoping my voice didn't sound as breathy as I thought it did.

"No problem. Emmett wanted to know the ETA for dinner."

_Of course he did. _Rolling my eyes, I told Edward to tell Emmett it would be about six or seven more minutes before he could stuff his face.

Ten minutes later, we all sat down to eat. Our tiny table wasn't big enough for everyone so we were scattered on the picnic table in the backyard and on the steps of the back porch. It was nice hanging out with everyone and forgetting about the drama of the day.

"These fries are freaking awesome!" Emmett moaned through a mouthful of food, causing Rose to hit him upside his head. She seemed to do that a lot, and I wondered if Emmett secretly enjoyed Rose hitting him. It wouldn't have surprised me in the least.

After dinner and dishes, my friends headed home and sprawled out on the couch to watch a fishing show with Charlie. All in all, the day had started out shitty, but it had ended up great. I felt extremely blessed to have found such good friends and such a great support system. I knew things were going to be rocky for a bit due to the whole baby situation, but I was confident that we could handle whatever was thrown our way.

* * *

**a/n: Now, some of you may feel that Bella forgave him too easily and that's fine. I'm one of those people that can't hold a grudge for very long. Alright my dears, see you next Friday.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks for all the awesome reviews. I've been battling the demon cold from hell and reading reviews tends to brighten up my day. So, happy Friday and enjoy!**

* * *

I couldn't get over the fact that it was seventy-two degrees in November. I wasn't used to wearing shorts in the days leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it was something I was going to have to get used to. And, in all honesty, I couldn't really complain. It beat dealing with cold weather, although it was usually in the fifties this time of year in Seattle.

With Thanksgiving around the bend, I decided to hit up the grocery store and begin buying the ingredients I was going to need. I wasn't sure if it was going to be just Charlie and myself or if people were going to come over so I was a little on the fence as to how much to buy and how a large a turkey I should get.

"Hello, Bella dear," Esme said, parking her cart next to mine as I stared at the turkeys. I wondered if they were caught locally.

"Hi, Esme."

"Buying a turkey?" she asked.

"Possibly. I'm trying to figure out how large a turkey to get."

She looked at the turkeys and then at me. "Why don't you come to our house for Thanksgiving. We'd love to have you and Charlie."

"Are you sure?" I asked, knowing that they had a lot going on having to deal with the nightmare that was known as Tanya. She nodded and that was that.

As I left the grocery store with ingredients to bake pumpkin and pecan pie, I stopped off at the station.

"Hi, Emily," I greeted. "Is Dad in?"

She nodded and gestured me back. I walked down the hall to his office and found him drinking a cup of coffee and reading the sport's section of the _Mobile Press Register_.

"Working hard I see," I commented, causing him to jolt and spill some of his coffee.

"Jesus, Bells! Don't sneak up on someone like that!" I let out a snicker. Big, bad chief of police was too easy to sneak up on.

"Sorry, Dad," I said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah. What brings you by?"

I told him that we'd be invited to Thanksgiving if he wanted to go, and he was more than willing as long as I was baking pies. I assured him I was.

"The Denalis aren't going to be there, are they?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't think so. I'm sure Esme would have mentioned it if they were. Besides, I don't think the Cullens and Denalis are on speaking terms at the moment. Tanya has to go have that paternity test done soon."

"Hmm. It'll be interesting to see how that turns out. Half the town thinks it's Edwards, the other half think it belongs to someone else."

"Ah, the joys of small town life. I hear that Tanya has spent every minute complaining about her community service."

Charlie let out a groan. "Boy does she ever. I stop and check in on her progress every week, and every week I have to listen to her bosses complain that all she does is complain."

I wasn't surprised at all. Tanya didn't know the meaning of hard work, so community service must have been one hell of a wake-up call for her. She'd been back at school for about two weeks and was no longer considered Miss Popularity. If anything, Tanya's status had gone downhill and fast. Of course, she blamed me and my friends for her social status decline. Personally, I felt that a lot of it had to do with the fact that she'd been outed as a bully and she was pregnant. Not to mention the rumors that were going around about her; rumors that she was tricking Edward into being her baby's daddy.

She blamed me for those to, although I had nothing to do with the rumors. That was one thing I didn't play into. Rumors could be viscous and downright nasty, and they could do lasting damage. Tanya had confronted me one day after school about them, and I explained to her that I hadn't started them. Not that she had listened.

As for Tanya and Edward, well they weren't together anymore despite her claims or her attempts. Edward put up with her because if it really was his child, then he wanted to be a part of his kid's life. And as much as I would love to date and be with Edward, there was no way I could until I knew for sure what the outcome of his and Tanya's situation was. It's not that I wouldn't still date him even if he was a dad, but it would complicate things for sure. Besides, I had no idea if Edward felt anything for me but friendship. Rose and Alice had assured me that he still did, but I wasn't as easily convinced. How could I be? The one time I ask a guy out, he stops being my friend and ends up with a pregnant ex.

* * *

Before I knew it, Thanksgiving was upon us and Charlie and I were pulling into the Cullen driveway. As we got out of the car and made our way up the walk, we were greeted at the door by a smiling Esme.

"Thank you so much for coming and for baking these pies, Bella," she said as we followed her inside to the kitchen.

I set the pies down on the counter and took a moment to let the aroma of turkey goodness sweep over me. I then took a good look at the kitchen and saw that most of the surfaces were covered with food. Was Esme planning on feeding an army?

"Emmett," she said by way of explanation. "I'm sure you've seen the way that boy eats?" I nodded.

"Well, this is his favorite holiday so I always make a couple of turkeys."

Before long, the eight of us were seated around the Cullen's large dining room table. Esme asked that we each say something that we were grateful for before we started to eat. When it was my turn, I told them that I was thankful for Charlie and for my friends, who helped my transition to Wild Turkey be a fairly smooth one. I was also thankful that the Cullen parents had passed on such great genes to their kids, but I didn't say that out loud. Charlie said he was thankful for having good friends as well, and that he was thankful for a new start.

Dinner was absolutely amazing, and I praised Esme and her amazing cooking skills. Then later on after pie, everyone was praising me. Now, I might not have been a fantastic cook, but I was one hell of a baker. I could bake anything, and I mean anything.

After a while, us kids decided to go hit up the beach while our parents sat around talking. Emmett, Jasper, Edward and I all made our down to the private beach, flopping down onto the cool sand. I loved the way felt and kept running my fingers through it.

"Thanks for coming over," Edward said as he sat down next to me.

"No problem," I told him. "I wasn't looking forward to cooking a turkey anyway. Besides, it's nice being with my friends on the holidays."

"Well seeing what an ass I've been lately, I'm surprised you showed up."

"Well, you're getting better at not being an ass," I told him. "Plus your mom is an amazing cook."

"Speaking of moms, wasn't yours getting remarried?" Edward asked me.

"Yeah, I don't know if she did or not. Remember how I told you that we'd had a falling out of sorts?" He nodded.

"Yeah, well it never got resolved. I haven't heard from her since September. Guess, she's too busy with her boy toy to remember she has a daughter," I said, surprised at my own bitterness. I'd actually though I'd gotten over the initial hurt of her ignoring me after my attempts to contact her and apologize. Looked like I was wrong.

"Ah, that sucks, B," Emmett said, scooting next to me and wrapping a giant arm around my shoulder.

"Yeah, it kind of does," I said quietly.

Jasper nodded a bit. "My biological mother left when I was two. I've only seen her a handful of times since then and none of those times were particularly pleasant. Now that I'm older, I realize that I'm better off without her. After all, I have Esme as my mom."

I'd totally forgotten that Jasper was actually Esme's stepson. You'd never know it because Esme truly loved each and every one of her boys equally.

"You guys are so lucky," I told them. They all nodded.

"We are," Jasper said while Edward and Emmett nodded in agreement.

"I'm extremely thankful to have them by my side through all of this crap with Tanya," Edward said, running his fingers through his hair. "Tanya's going in for the paternity test on Monday. Her parents and Mom are going with. Mom doesn't trust them to actually do it."

"You're not going?" I asked.

"No. All the doctor will do is draw some blood from Tanya and the baby I think, and then they'll compare it to my blood and then we'll know for sure."

"Do you think it's yours?" I asked, finally voicing the question I'd wanted to know the answer to.

Edward sighed. "At first, I thought it was a possibility, but she's not far enough along for it to be mine. At least, I don't think she is. She's only like what, sixteen weeks along or something? The last time I remember us having sex was in June, and I know I used a condom."

"If it's not yours, then whose is it?" Jasper asked. Edward shrugged.

"What about that guy that she met on spring break?" I asked, thinking out loud. It would make sense, although the pregnancy would have to be further along for her to have gotten pregnant back then.

"Maybe, but I don't think she's seen that guy since New Orleans. Hell, what do I know? She could've screwed the other guys on the football team, and I probably wouldn't know."

Jasper and Emmett shook their heads.

"I don't think so bro. I don't think they'd disrespect you like that," Jasper told him.

We stayed out on the beach talking until the sun started to set, and Charlie came to get me. I ran inside the Cullen house to give Esme and Carlisle hugs and thanked them again for inviting us. I was hugged back and handed several Tupperware containers of food.

"So, kiddo. We had a pretty good Thanksgiving, yeah?" Charlie asked on the ride home.

I nodded. "We did. I was kind of glad not to have to cook an elaborate meal for just the two of us."

"Hell, kid. I was going to take you out to McDonalds or something," he told me with a grin.

I shook my head at that. "Gee, thanks Dad."

….

By Friday the following week, the whole gang was on pins and needles. The results of the paternity test had arrived, and Edward would finally know if he truly was going to be a father. From what he had told us, Tanya and her mother had bitched a fit the whole way to the hospital in Riverton; complaining that the whole thing was unnecessary and causing stress on Tanya. Esme had been relentless and made sure that she was in the room when they'd taken the blood. She didn't want anything to go wrong.

The doctor had called Esme earlier in the morning telling her that the results were in. She, Edward, Tanya, and Tanya's parents were to go to the doctor's office after school let out. I had to admit I was more than a bit nervous, and Edward was practically pulling his hair out.

The second the bell rang, letting school out, Edward climbed into the Volvo and headed off toward the hospital. Jasper, Emmett, Rose, Alice, and I all agreed to convene at my house. I drove with Alice and Rose with the boys following behind us.

"I'm telling you right now, he's not the father," I said, and the others agreed. We'd all be in agreement that Edward was too responsible to do something as stupid as getting Tanya knocked up.

"I want to know who the real baby-daddy is," Rose said.

The ride home was spent speculating over who it could be, and we didn't have long to wait. We'd just pulled into my driveway when my phone rang.

"It's Edward!" I shouted before answering and telling him he was on speaker phone.

"It's not mine!" he shouted, and we all cheered.

"Mom is currently laying into Tanya and her parents. She's going on about how Tanya should be ashamed of herself for trying to trick me into supporting her child," Edward said, and we could practically hear the glee in his voice.

"Who is the father?" Rose asked.

"She won't say," Edward told us.

"Probably because she doesn't know," Alice said.

"Oh, she knows," I said. "I have no doubt about that, but it's probably someone her parents don't approve of which is why she tried to pin it on Edward."

Before hanging up, Edward told me he'd meet us at my house since we were already there. The three of us climbed out of the my car and immediately told Jasper and Emmett who already had heard the good news. As soon as we were inside, the boys plopped down on the couch and turned on ESPN. The girls and I headed to my room.

"Now that we know Eddie's not going to be a daddy, do you think you'll ask him out again?" Rose asked.

"I—uh … I don't know. I kind of feel like the moment has passed. That that was our one chance and poof! It was gone."

Alice and Rose were shaking their heads.

"I don't think that's true. I think that once Edward has processed everything that he'll definitely want to go out with you," Alice said.

I shrugged. "Maybe. I think it's going to take a while before we can get back to that level of intimacy that we had. Trusting him is a lot harder now than it was before," I said quietly.

Both girls nodded in understanding.

"I get that. However, I have no doubt that the two of you will overcome the obstacles in your way. You're meant to be together! I know it. Rose knows it. Jasper knows it. Emmett knows it. Ed—"

"I get it!" I said laughing. "Everyone knows it."

"Except you," Alice said.

"It's not that I don't want to be with him. I totally do. I just can't help but remember how quickly things went sour before they even began," I told her.

"While I admit that Edward could have handled things with you better, he had just been thrown for a loop," Emmett said from my doorway, startling me.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked.

"Long enough," he said with a grin before plopping down on my bed, practically shoving me out of the way.

"Edward is fucking crazy about you. Has been since the minute he saw you, although he was in denial about it because he was still with Tanya. Once things with her ended, he debated on whether or not to ask you out right away or to wait a while," he told me as Jasper nodded from the doorway in agreement. "And then when you asked him, the dude couldn't keep a smile off his face. He was fucking ecstatic to know that you liked him enough to ask him out."

I was floored. I'd had no idea that Edward had liked me right away. I mean, he'd said something similar that day at the beach, but I hadn't honestly believed it. It boggled my mind that someone as hot as Edward would want to go out with someone like me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jasper asked, and I realized that I'd spoken out loud.

"Exactly what I said. Edward's …" I trailed off for a second. "He's beautiful, smart, and a gentleman most of the time. I'm just me. Plain, boring Bella."

"There is nothing plain or boring about you, B!" Emmett said hotly. "You obviously haven't looked at yourself in the mirror."

Rose and Alice were nodding in agreement with him. I looked at them all like they were insane. They obviously all needed glasses.

"But—" I started to say, but was silenced when Rose held up a hand.

"You're pretty plus you have that whole girl-next-door thing going for you. Trust me, you're more than enough for Edward."

I could see there was no point trying to tell them they were wrong, so I gave up. I did feel a bit of hope knowing that my friends thought I was good enough for him. I really needed to work on the whole, self esteem issue thing.

A knock on the front door interrupted us, and I quickly got up to answer it. The second I opened the door, I was grabbed up in a hug and twirled around.

"I'm free!" Edward shouted as he spun us around until I was dizzy.

He set me down on my feet and I wobbled a bit as the world around me continued to spin. I had to clutch onto his arm to steady myself. Once I'd gained my footing, Edward was swept up in hugs by Alice and Rosalie before being slapped on the back in a man hugs by Emmett and Jasper.

"Well this news is cause for a celebration," I said. "How about I make some chunky chocolate chip cookies?"

I knew they were Edward's favorites, and his eyes lit up. "Please!"

I headed into the kitchen and got out the ingredients while everyone stood around watching me.

"Go!" I said, shooing them out of the kitchen. "Go watch some TV or something. I don't want you all watching me."

"Can't I stay?" Edward asked with a pout. Like I could resist that slightly quivering lower lip.

"Fine," I said, pointing a wooden spoon at him. "But stay out of my way."

He was silent while I was mixing up the cookie batter in a bowl and it wasn't until I was stirring it that he spoke.

"I can't apologize enough for my unforgivable behavior," he told me quietly. "I know that I hurt you badly that day especially breaking our date the way I did. Do you think you can ever forgive me?"

I set down the bowl and the whisk and turned to face him. While he looked less stressed and the bags under his eyes were gone, those gorgeous green eyes were still sad. I pulled out the chair next to his and sat down, angling myself so I was facing him. I reached out and lightly touched his hand.

"I thought we went through this already. I've forgiven you for your behavior. You weren't yourself, and you'd just been dealt a huge blow."

He nodded but still looked miserable. "Do you really forgive me?"

I squeezed his hand. "I do. However, that being said, trusting you is going to be an issue for me right now. You really hurt me by turning away from me and blocking me out."

He nodded, his green eyes filled with remorse. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I know, and I've forgiven you. If I hadn't, then I wouldn't be about to make you chunky chocolate chip cookies."

And like that, the air was cleared and we were soon joking and talking.

"How badly are your grades screwed up?" I asked, a bit worried.

He ran his fingers through his hair. "Not too awfully. With some hard work and studying, I should be able to raise them up."

"What about football?"

He let out a sigh and fiddled with the glass of milk that I'd given him. "I played so horribly that I doubt I'd be allowed back on the team, but the ultimate reason I got benched was because of my grades. If I get those back up, I'll be able to play again. Although, I'm not sure if I want to. I don't love football the way Emmett and Jasper do. I only played because they did."

I hadn't realized that. I figured he played because he was trying to get a scholarship for college.

"Will they or your parents be upset if you don't play next year?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. I told Jazz and Em earlier this year, that I probably wouldn't play next year. I'd like to focus on my senior year and not have to worry about football practices taking up my time."

I nodded, thinking that made sense.

"I take it you don't play any sports?" he asked, watching as I rolled the balls of dough and placed them on the cookie sheet.

I tossed him a look. "Seriously, Edward? You've known me for what? Four months? When in those four months, especially in gym, have I ever demonstrated any athleticism?"

He laughed then said, "Okay, you're right. It was a dumb question."

By the time the cookies were done, Charlie had come home and invited everyone to stay for dinner. I flat out told him I wasn't cooking, so he went about frying up some fish. He even invited Carlisle and Esme over.

It was with lighter hearts and minds that we ate our dinner, laughter and talk filling the air. Esme and Carlisle had informed Charlie that Edward wasn't in fact the father. Charlie told them he'd figured as much seeing as how happy Edward was. After dinner, the six of us headed to the beach while Charlie, Esme, and Carlisle stayed behind to talk.

We piled into our separate cars and headed to Pelican Beach, near where Edward and I had gone on our non-date. I parked the car on the side of the road, climbed out, and we all made our way down to the beach. It was beautiful. The moon was full, the waves were crashing, and the air was cool. At that moment, I didn't miss Seattle at all. How could I when I had such an amazing view in front of me? And I wasn't just talking about the beach. Edward in the moonlight was something to behold.

"You okay?" he asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I gave him a smile. "Yeah. I was just thinking how beautiful it is out here."

"It is beautiful," he said, his eyes never leaving mine.

_Oh, yeah._ The attraction was still there, and I knew that if he touched me, my skin would ignite.

"C'mon guys! Let's take a walk. Dad said the dolphins have been playing at night lately," Emmett said.

"I'm game," I told them.

Edward and I walked behind the couples, and I couldn't help but feel envious when Em wrapped his arm around Rose's shoulders or when Jasper reached out and took Ali's hand.

"I kind of feel like a fifth wheel," I told Edward quietly.

He grinned. "Me, too."

"Come on, slow pokes!" Emmett hollered back at us.

"We're coming!" I shouted back, then instantly regretted the words.

Emmett's laughter roared around us, and I heard him say something about it being a bit early for us to be getting our groove on.

"Forgive him. He was dropped on his head as a child," Edward bent down to whisper in my ear.

_Oh, my._ The feel of his breath sent tingles along my skin.

"Well, that certainly explains a lot," I said and we exchanged grins.

"Ooo! I think I see a dolphin!" Alice squealed.

I'd never seen a dolphin before except on TV, and I'd only been to an aquarium once when I was six. I rushed over to where Alice and Jasper were, and let my eyes scan the water. I didn't see anything, and I felt a bit disappointed. I'd so been wanting to see one.

"I don't see it," I said with a frown. Warm hands placed themselves on my shoulders.

"They're probably underneath the water. Give them a few minutes, and I'm sure they'll resurface," he told me, squeezing my shoulders.

Sure enough, a few minutes later two dolphins popped up. I let out a gasp. They were so pretty looking, and the moonlight showed off their smooth skin. I wanted to run out and touch them, but knew that wasn't feasible.

I swore, Edward must have been a mind reader because he said, "Don't even think about it. The water temp is roughly fifty-five degrees give or take. Not to mention that the undertow is extremely strong this time of year."

"I wasn't going to jump in after them," I said with a pout.

"Uh huh."

A little after nine, we decided to head back to my house. The temperature had dropped a bit and tiny Alice was absolutely freezing. Or so she told us, six million times.

Back at my house, everyone exchanged goodbyes, and I about melted when Edward took me in his arms and gave me a hug. I knew a blush was on my cheeks, and I swung my hair forward so no one would see it. Esme was onto me though, and she gave me a little wink.

"Bet your relieved that Edward isn't about to become a father, huh, Bells?" Charlie asked after I shut the door and walked into the living room.

"Well, yeah. Of course I am. His whole life would've changed. You've been there."

"That's not the only reason why you're glad though, is it?"

Charlie knew me too well. "You still like him?" he asked.

I nodded as I sprawled out on the couch next to him. "I do but like I told him today, trusting him is going to be quite an issue for me. While I've forgiven him for his behavior, he's going to have to work hard to earn my trust again."

"Good. Although, I'm not so sure you should've forgiven him, but I do understand the fear he was dealing with."

"How did you manage it?" I asked him. He and Renee had never really talked about what it was like being teenage parents. Although, I had gotten plenty of lectures regarding safe sex. My parents didn't want me to make the same mistake they did; not that I was a mistake.

"I'm not gonna lie, Bells. It was scary as hell, not to mention rough. Your mother's parents were furious with us and kicked her out. She moved in with me and my mother who was less than thrilled."

I remembered that Grandmother Swan wasn't a huge fan of Renee, but I'd never really thought about why.

"I had to put off college for a few years because I need to work so I could pay my mother rent and provide for you and your mother. Renee didn't want to work, and I was okay with it. But times got rough after my mother died, and that was when Renee and I started fighting."

I frowned, trying to recall hearing them fight when I was younger, but I couldn't.

"We waited until you were out of the room or in bed. We didn't want you to see us arguing," he explained.

But I had seen and heard them one night when I'd come home from Angela's house. I'd walked into the middle of, what at the time, had seemed like World War III. Renee had been screaming at Charlie, claiming that he loved his job more than her. He'd told her she was wrong, but she hadn't listened to him. Instead, she'd shoved passed him and me and climbed into her car and taken off. She'd moved out a week later, trying to get me to go with her. I'd told her no. I hadn't wanted to leave the house I'd grown up in, although in the end I obviously had.

"Do you miss her?"

Charlie reflected for a minute. "Not as much as I did. Do I still love her? Yes. I think a part of me always will. We'd been together since we were sixteen. I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to realize that she was unhappy."

We talked for a while more before Charlie told me to go to bed. That night, I dreamed of Edward and myself riding dolphins across the gulf. It was very strange, and I woke up disoriented and confused.

Shaking it off, I showered and got dressed. I was halfway through a cinnamon PopTart when Edward sent me a text asking if I wanted to ride with him, Jasper, and Alice. I quickly replied back with a yes.

I shoved the rest of my breakfast in mouth before brushing my teeth, and throwing on a bit of lip gloss and mascara. Normally, I didn't bother with makeup but today, I felt like it. I wasn't sure why, but—okay, I was putting it on because I wanted Edward to notice me. It was stupid, but whatever.

After checking my face and hair once more, there was a honking in the driveway. Eagerly, I grabbed my bag and headed out. I saw Jasper and Alice cuddling in the back, so I opened the front passenger door and climbed in.

"Good morning, Bella," Edward said, handing me a Styrofoam cup.

"Morning. What's this?" I asked as I took the cup.

"Hot tea. I know that you prefer that over coffee." My heart melted just a bit. He remembered that I preferred tea over coffee.

"Thank you," I said and feeling brave, I reached over and squeeze his arm.

"No problem. The tiny one was whining about needing some coffee, so we stopped off at the Loon to get her some. I figured you could use something to wake you up as well."

"Well, I really appreciate it," I told him as I settled back into my seat. I had a feeling it was going to be the start of an excellent day.

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**a/n: Woot, woot! Edward isn't the baby daddy. Not that any of you really thought he was, right? Next update will be Friday.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks for all the awesome reviews, gang! Sorry, I haven't replied. I've got no excuses. We're a little past the halfway point. There's going to be a total of 20 chapters. As always, all mistakes are my own.**

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It had been one heck of a week, and I was positive Edward felt the same. Monday had started off great, until we'd arrived at school. Almost immediately, Edward was assaulted by girl after girl once they'd learned that he and Tanya had broken up again. Plus, the whole school seemed to know that he wasn't the baby daddy which had led to the gossip mill going crazy. Everyone wanted to know who the father was and speculation was running rampant.

I'd caught a quick glimpse of Tanya on my way to my locker after third period, and she looked like crap. Her hair had been limp, her clothes wrinkled, and she had dark circles under her eyes. I had felt kind of bad for her. One minute she'd had everything, and the next she had nothing. Gone was the mean, popular girl and in her place was a miserable, pregnant seventeen year-old who seemed to have lost all of her friends save one; Victoria.

I'd made the mistake of mentioning to Alice and Rose that I felt kind of bad for Tanya, and both girls had snapped. They'd said Tanya had made her bed, now she had to lie in it. While that was true, she hadn't made that baby on her own. There was a father out there, but Tanya wasn't saying who it was.

By Friday afternoon, I was more than ready for the weekend. It had been a busy day full of exams, so I was more than ready for art despite Tanya and Vicky being in the class. They'd both been pretty quiet as of late, but all of that was about to change. Why they chose today of all days to start being bitches again, I don't know.

I sat down at my desk in front of them, pulled out my sketchpad, and began to work on the portrait we'd been assigned to sketch. Unfortunately, I'd let my guard down and as soon as Mrs. Dormien went to her office, Tanya started in on me.

"You're a real piece of work, you know that right?" she asked from behind me.

Choosing to ignore her, I kept sketching the portrait of Charlie. When Tanya didn't get a response from me she tried again.

"You're so fucking jealous of me, it's pathetic. That's why you had to go and break Edward and I up, isn't it? You couldn't handle the fact that he's in love with me."

I couldn't hold back the snort of amusement. "Jealous? Of you? That's funny," I commented as I stared at my sketch, trying to decide what else it needed.

"It's so fucking obvious, Swan. I had the one thing you wanted, so you planted this idea his mom's head that the baby wasn't Edwards."

Good lord, she just wouldn't shut up. "I didn't plant anything in Esme's head. She saw you for what you are; a gold digger. Oh, and what do you know? The baby wasn't his. The fact that you were more than willing to trap him into a relationship he didn't want by lying to him about the baby shows exactly what kind of a person you are. A liar who will do and say anything to get what she wants."

I saw her shrug out of the corner of my eye as if it was no big deal that she'd lied about Edward being the baby's father, and it pissed me off. She was so freaking selfish and apparently the only person she cared about was herself.

"Just watch your back, Swan. I'll get my revenge one way or the other. You can't have him. He's mine," she snarled right before Mrs. Dormien came back into the room. I rolled my eyes at her overdramatic comment. I wasn't too worried about her. As far as I was concerned, Tanya was all talk.

As soon as school let out, I asked Rose and Alice if they wanted to spend the night at my house. We'd been talking about having a sleepover for ages but had yet to do it, and Charlie was out of town for the weekend in Mobile at some cop conference or something. The girls quickly agreed to meet at my house later in the afternoon.

As soon as I was home, I cleaned up the place and got ready for our evening. I'd missed having just a girls' night out. Several hours later, the three of us were hanging out eating ice cream and watching _Legends of the Fall_ when I got a tingling sensation on the back of my neck. It wasn't the kind I got when Edward was around; it was the kind you got when something wasn't quite right. I shook it off, deciding that I was being paranoid when it happened again.

"Do you feel that?" I asked them.

"Feel what?" Rose asked.

"I've got this weird tingling on the back of my neck as if something's wrong."

That was when the house plunged into darkness and the three of us let out screams and clutched each other. It took everything in me not to panic. We'd probably just blown a fuse that was all.

"What the fuck is going on?" Rose asked after a minute when the power still hadn't come back on.

"I don't know," I told them, but I knew I'd feel a lot safer with a weapon in my hand. Charlie kept a spare gun in locked case in the closet and a baseball bat behind his bedroom door. I started to head down the hall telling the girls to follow me.

"What are you doing?" Alice hissed.

"Getting a weapon. I'm not going outside unarmed," I told her.

Rose grabbed my arm, stopping me. "You're not going out there alone."

"'ll be fine," I said, but she was adamant that I not go out alone.

Relenting, I handed her the old baseball bat that Charlie kept behind the bedroom door and forwent the gun. I didn't want to shoot it with my friends around and take the chance of one of them getting hurt. Not that I was a bad shot, I just didn't want to get scared or startled and accidentally hurt one of them. I then handed Alice the huge flashlight that Charlie had, while I grabbed my can of mace and a knife from the kitchen.

Armed, the three of us stepped onto the back deck. The flood lights that Charlie had put up didn't trigger as they should have. Alice swept the light from the flashlight over the yard, and all we could see were trees.

"Bella?" Alice whispered, tugging on my sleeve. "Let's go inside and call your dad."

Rose nodded in agreement, so that's what we did. Once inside, we double checked all the windows and doors to make sure they were all locked, then I called Charlie.

"Hey, Bells! You guys having fun?"

"We were. Dad, something doesn't feel right. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up, and I don't feel safe," I told him.

"Can you get one of the boys to escort you to either Alice or Rose's house?"

"Probably."

"Do that. I don't want you staying at home if you feel unsafe. I can come home if you need me too," he said.

I told him that I was probably overreacting, but that I'd call one of the guys to get us. By the time, I hung up, Rose was already on the phone with Emmett.

"He'll be here with the guys in a few. We can head to my house if you want?"

We nodded and sure enough, fifteen minutes later, the boys showed up in Emmett's Jeep. We rushed out the door of my house and into the jeep. Soon, we were at Rose's house, and I realized that I'd never been there before. It was a much smaller house compared to that of the Cullens or the Brandons; more around the same size of mine. I knew that Rose's dad worked as a mechanic, but I had no idea what her mother did.

"Mom died when I was three," Rose explained to me as we walked in. "So, Dad raised me and my two older brothers, Riley and Derrick. They're attending college in Florida."

I couldn't believe that I'd been friends with Rose all this time and had never once asked about her family. I felt horrible.

"It's no big deal, Bella," she told me before she introduced me to her dad. Mr. Hale wasn't what I was expecting. He was covered in tattoos, had a beard, and a gruff voice, but he was extremely nice. He told us that were more than welcome to hang out but the boys had to leave before midnight. We all agreed.

The rest of the night was spent with the six of us watching movies and talking. I was sitting next to Edward on the couch and at one point, his arm ended up around me as I snuggled into his side. I caught the smirk Emmett was sending me and figured that was why he'd insisted on watching scary movies. I'd been annoyed with him later. For the moment, I was content to sit there and pretend that Edward and I were just like the couples in the room.

A little before midnight, the guys left, and I left myself sink into the hug Edward gave me. I wanted nothing more than to bury my face in his neck and hold on tight. Right before he let me go, Edward placed a kiss on my cheek, and I went up in flames. Ignoring the girls, I made my way to Rose's room where we bunked down for the night.

The following morning I woke up to my phone playing _I Shot the Sheriff_. It was my ringtone for Charlie, which he didn't really find amusing, but I did.

"Morning, Dad," I mumbled out through a yawn.

"Hey, kiddo. I'm on my way home. Why don't you meet me at the Loon for breakfast. I should be home in about an hour."

I agreed, then woke up the girls and asked if they wanted to go to breakfast with me and Charlie. They agreed. They loved Charlie, and Rose liked to tease me about how good looking he was for an older guy. I know she did it, just to see me gag and shudder.

A little over an hour later, the four of us were chowing down on pancakes, bacon, and eggs while Charlie asked us about the previous night.

"I didn't hear any noises, Dad, but I got a bad feeling. Like something wasn't right. When we went out on the back porch the floodlights didn't go on like they should have," I explained.

Charlie frowned. "I'll take a look when we get home. They were working just fine the other night. I would know because Bob set them off. Speaking of Bob, I havent' seen him lately. Have you?" he asked me.

"Come to think of it, no. Usually, he's wandering around making that creepy turkey gobble noise that he does. You don't think he ended up as someone's Thanksgiving dinner, do you?"

"I hope not. Hunting wild turkey isn't legal at the moment, but that doesn't mean that people don't do it," he told me.

After breakfast, Charlie and I said goodbye to Rose and Alice and headed home. I was really hoping we'd just blown a fuse, but I had a feeling it was more than that. Charlie pulled his SUV into the drive and we got out, heading toward the backyard.

"Stay here for a minute, Bells."

I nodded and stayed where I was, watching as Charlie drew his gone and quietly walked into the backyard. I heard a few muttered curses before he came back.

"I found Bob," he said, and I could tell from the look on his face it wasn't pleasant. "It looks like he was shot and then gutted. I'll need to get animal control out here to take care of his remains."

Well, I hadn't been overly fond of Bob at first, he'd come to grow on me and I was sad and angry that someone had killed him.

"Why would someone kill and gut a turkey and not take it with them?" I asked.

Charlie shook his head, having no clear answer for me. He also informed me the fusebox had been tampered with and the lock on the back door was jimmied.

"I'm gonna call Sam and have him come out here to take photos. It looks like someone thought it would be a good idea to break into the Chief of Police's house. It's a good thing you girls left when you did."

_Holy shit! What if we hadn't left? Would are bloodied bodies have been found on the couch? _I shivered as the disturbing thoughts raced through my mind. As if Charlie could read my mind, he wrapped an arm around me, reassuring me I was fine. I knew I was fine, but I suddenly didn't feel quite as safe as I had. I'd thought one of the points of moving to Wild Turkey was to get away from the high crime rates of the big city. But, I guess even small cities have crime as well.

"It was probably just some kid who was dared to break in here," Charlie said, but he didn't really sound all that convinced which did nothing to convince me he was on the right track.

Half an hour later, I was allowed into the house and told to look and see if anything had been taken. Nothing in the living room looked disturbed until I noticed one of my paintings missing. It hadn't been hung on the wall yet, but it had been propped up in the corner of the living room. I pointed it out to Charlie and Sam, but I couldn't figure for the life of me why someone would want to take a painting. It had no monetary value.

I made my down the hall and to my room, and when I opened the door I let out a gasp. My room was a disaster, and I hadn't left it that way. Calling for Sam and Charlie, I slowly made my way through the mess.

"What the fuck?" Charlie growled as he took in the state of my room.

My bed looked like it had been slept in, the covers and sheets pulled back. Clothes were hanging out of my dresser as if someone had rifled through the drawers and my desk was a mess.

"My laptop's gone," I told them before rushing to the closet and pulling out a jewelry box where I kept some earrings and rings that Grandma Swan had given me. Thankfully, they were still in there, and I let out a sigh of relief. It was hard to tell if anything else had been taken, but after Charlie and Sam documented everything and I was putting stuff away, I noticed that I was missing my favorite blue shirt. I was more than a little scared and weirded out that someone was walking around with one of my shirts.

Later that night, after washing my sheets and bedspread, I called Alice and Rose to let them know what had occurred. They were both just as scared and as upset as I was, and after talking to them for a while, I gave Edward a call.

"Hey, Bella," he answered, his voice thick with sleep.

"Crap! Did I wake you?" I asked, checking the clock on my phone and seeing it was only a little past nine.

"Nah, I was just dozing while watching a movie. So, what's up?" he asked.

"Turns out that someone broke into my house after you guys got us," I informed him.

"What?!"

I explained everything that had happened and what Charlie had learned, which unfortunately wasn't much. Whoever had broken in has used gloves leaving no fingerprints behind, but a dark hair had been found near the door outside. Considering that Charlie and myself, not too mention Alice, Edward, and Emmett all had dark hair, I wasn't encouraged by the finding. Wild Turkey didn't have a forensics lab and the hair would have to be sent out to Mobile for examination, assuming they could get any DNA from it.

"But everyone's okay?" Edward asked after I was done.

I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "Yeah. Although, my laptop and favorite shirt are gone."

"Why would someone take your shirt?" he asked, and I told him I'd been wondering the same thing. My laptop I could understand, but a shirt? I guess the world was just full of crazy people.

"Well, I'm glad you're safe and that you're dad's on the case."

"Me, too, but I'm still a bit scared," I told him quietly. I'd actually broken down into tears in the shower earlier.

"Completely understandable. Your sense of security has been compromised, but I'm positive the chief has upped your security?"

"Oh, yeah. We've got all the bells and whistles now."

We talked for a while more until his yawns began to interrupt his words. I bid him goodnight, and curled up under my covers with an old teddy bear that I had. It seemed a bit silly to be cuddling with Mr. Bear, but it brought me a sense of safety so I held on tight.

It was a restless night though. Every little noise kept waking me up, and eventually I just gave up on sleep. I was a bit surprised to see Charlie in the kitchen making coffee when I wandered in a little after three.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked, sitting down at the table.

I shook my head and poured a cup for myself, grimacing a bit at the taste. "No. Every little noise has me freaking out."

We sat in silence for a while before Charlie asked if I wanted to go fishing. Might as well since we were both up so early. By six, we were out in the boat and reeling in fish. Of course, the bad thing about waking up so early is that by noon you're ready for bed. As soon as we brought the boat back in and returned home, I crashed on the couch for a nap with Charlie snoring away in his room.

The ringing of a phone woke me up, and I smiled when I saw it was Edward.

"Hey, Ed –Edward," I said through a yawn.

"Napping already? It's only two," he said with a laugh. I explained how Charlie and I had been up since around three and had gone fishing.

"Ah, I see. Well, if you're not too tired would you like to go to a movie with me in Riverton tonight?" he asked.

Inside, I began squealing like a pre-teen at a One Direction concert, but I maintained a cool facade as I told him I'd love to. I didn't even care what we went and saw as long as we were together.

"Awesome! I'll pick you up around six, so we have time to make the seven o'clock showing. See you later."

I hung up my phone and did a little dance around the living room much to the amusement of Charlie.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" he asked.

"Oh, uh … Edward and I are going to the movies tonight in Riverton. That's okay, right?"

He nodded but warned me to be careful with my heart. He knew Edward was a good guy and all, but Charlie had also seen how hurt I'd gotten when Edward had rejected me. I promised I'd be careful and Charlie already knew Edward was working hard on regaining my trust. It was still going to take some time, but that didn't mean I couldn't hangout with him in the meantime.

A little after six, there was a knocking on the door, and I rushed to beat Charlie to it. Knowing him, he'd give Edward a lecture on not hurting his baby girl and then we'd never make it to the movie on time.

"Hey," I said as I opened the door and was almost stunned stupid. The man was too gorgeous. It should be a crime to look that good. He was wearing a simple pair of khakis and a blue button-down polo, but holy hell, did he wear it well.

Edward gave me a smile, and told me how nice I looked. I was glad to see he noticed the effort I'd put into getting dressed. Granted, I'd had to call Alice for advice which was why I was wearing a khaki skirt and a light blue sweater.

"We match," he joked, and I realized he was right. We did. I offered to go change so we didn't look like one of those old people couples that wear matching outfits, but he grinned and shook his head as he told me he liked that particular shade of blue on me. Cue blush.

We told Charlie goodnight and walked out to Edward's Volvo. He opened my door for me, before rushing around to the driver's side. We talked quietly the whole way up to Riverton, discussing homework, TV shows, movies, and music. We did stay away from the topic of Tanya. I don't think either of us wanted to ruin our evening with thoughts of her.

"So, what are we seeing?" I asked as we pulled into the parking lot of the theater.

He let out a little huff. "I told you last night."

_He did? _I must have zoned out, having been stunned by the fact he'd asked me to the movies.

"I'm sorry. I must have zoned out," I told him.

His lower lip jutted out as he looked at me. "You mean you don't hang onto my every word?"

Snickering, I hit him lightly on the shoulder. "I'm afraid not." He let out a sigh and shook his head as if he couldn't believe me.

"You're not going to make me watch the last of those vampire/werewolf movies are you? Because if you do, I'll never forgive you. Never!" I told him as we got out of the car.

"I wouldn't do that to you or to me," he said with a grin before taking my hand in his as we made our way across the parking lot.

I glanced down and looked as his larger hand grasped mine, and I felt a giddy smile break across my face. I was such a dork, but I really liked the way our hands looked clasped together.

"I figured the new James Bond movie looked good. You okay with that?"

I nodded. Charlie loved James Bond and owned all the movies as well as the books. I didn't mind them all that much and Daniel Craig was quite hot.

As we reached the door, Edward let go of my hand to hold the door open for me, then took my hand back in his. He bought our tickets despite my protest and then we made our toward the concession area.

"O.M.G. Edward Cullen just showed up," I heard a girl whisper to her friend nearby. I turned toward them and saw it was the two girls from the other day. Lauren and Jane, I think there names were.

The girls continued to whisper to each other and when they were joined by some other girls, the talking and giggling really began. And it was all about Edward and hot he was. Poor Edward's face was bright red, and I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"It's not funny," he mumbled as we moved up a bit in line.

"Yes, it is. You have fan girls!" I said, poking him in the stomach.

He rolled his eyes and sighed with relief when it was our turn to order. We decided on a large popcorn and a large soda to share and once again he paid. I tried to argue with him about it and lost.

"Do you think he's dating her?" one of the girls whispered as we passed them.

"I'm hoping she'll let me," he murmured to me, and I almost lost my grip on the soda. I turned to face him, staring into his eyes, and saw the sincerity there. For a moment, all I did was stare into his beautiful green eyes before I looked away.

"I'd like that," I told him quietly, "but I think we need to ease our way into things. Take it slow. You just got out of a drama-filled relationship for the second time in not so many months, and I still remember what it was like to have you push me away instead of talking to me."

He nodded and winced a bit. "I can't ever apologize enough for acting the way I did, but I'm so very sorry for the way I acted. I want nothing more than to be with you, and to give us a chance."

"Well then, you'll have to ask me out properly then, won't you? This," I said, waving my hand around, "doesn't count as a date. This is more like a pre-date. If it goes well, I'll be more likely to say yes when you do ask me out."

"Then I promise you, Bella Swan, this will be the best pre-date you've ever been on," he said with a silly grin that matched my own.

As we sat down in a couple of seats that were off to the side, I took a moment to stare at Edward. He was so heartbreakingly beautiful, and I knew, without a doubt, he had the power to break my heart. He'd already cracked it once and a part of me was scared to take another chance, yet a bigger part of me, a stronger part of me, wanted him and was willing to risk it all.

"Popcorn?" he asked, interrupting my thoughts and holding out the bucket.

The movie was good, or at least I think it was, I didn't honestly pay much attention. I was too focused on the crackling energy that seemed to surround Edward and I went the lights dimmed down. I wondered if he felt it too. I really noticed it when I went to get some popcorn at the same time Edward had. Our hands had touched and it was like I'd been struck by lightening.

"That was weird," Edward said once the lights came back up.

"What? The movie?" I asked.

"No. Us," he replied, and I knew he'd noticed the energy as well.

"Must be my sparking personality," I said with a smile as he laughed.

"Must be," he said, shooting a wink my way. "Come on, let's get out of here."

We were both quiet on the way home, and I was a bit sad the evening was ending, but when Edward drove past my street and toward the beach, I knew it wasn't quite over.

"I'm not ready for the night to end yet. Is the beach okay with you?" he asked.

I nodded and a few minutes later we were pulling into a parking spot at Pelican Beach. Edward got a blanket out of the trunk and we walked hand in hand down the dune and found a spot to sit. I looked around for the dolphins to see if they were out, but I didn't see them anywhere.

"Storms rolling in," Edward commented softly, and I turned to face him.

"How do you know?"

He pointed out toward the gulf. "See how the waves are getting bigger and the crashing sounds louder?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yeah."

"It does that when a storm is coming in. We've been lucky this year. A couple of hurricanes and a few bad storms. We're probably due for some rough weather."

I hadn't even thought about hurricanes occurring here, but it would make sense that they would and they were something I definitely wasn't looking forward to. I shuddered a bit at the thought which caused Edward to wrap an arm around my shoulders.

"Cold?" he asked.

I shook my head. "A bit freaked out by the prospect of a hurricane."

He grinned and held me a bit tighter, telling me not to worry. That when a hurricane came we'd have plenty of time to get our house boarded up and he and his family would be more than willing to help us out.

We sat out there for about an hour until the wind began to pick up and the waves became more violent. I began to shiver despite the warm arm around me, and Edward suggested we call it a night. As reluctant as I was for the night to end, I agreed with him.

A short ride later, we were pulling into my drive, and I saw the curtain in the kitchen move to the side as Charlie peeked out. Edward got out and opened my door before walking with me up to the porch.

"Thanks for a great pre-date," I told him.

"Does this mean when I ask you out on a real date you'll say yes?"

"Most definitely," I said, watching as the smile on his face grew.

"Excellent. Well, I'd better let you go before the chief comes out and shoots me," he said with a teasing grin.

"Have a goodnight," I told him.

"You too," he said before leaning down and placing a kiss on my cheek.

I don't know how long I stood there after Edward drove away, but it was long enough for Charlie to open the door and ask me if I was coming inside or if I planned on sleeping on the porch. Blinking, I headed inside and tried to contain the cheesy smile that wanted to break free. I wasn't very successful.

"I take it you had a good time?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, I did."

Charlie and I stayed up talking for a bit before I started yawning and excused myself. Within minutes of my head hitting my pillow I was out like a light and dreamed the most wonderful dreams.

* * *

**a/n: As always, let me know what you though. See ya next week.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. By now, I'm sure you've figured out I'm an epic fail at responding, but I promise I do read them all. Now this chapter isn't as long as the others mainly because my brain is on vacation.**

* * *

Monday morning, I woke up bright and early before my alarm went off, which almost never happened. I chalked it up to the fact I was going to be seeing Edward in a few hours. Scrambling out of bed, I quickly showered, dressed, and actually put on a little bit of makeup. I knew I was being foolish. It wasn't like Edward hadn't seen me all gross and sweaty, but I felt like putting a little bit of effort into what I looked like.

Dressed, I hurried out of my room and made some toast which I quickly ate before grabbing my bag and heading out to Magnolia. It was almost pathetic how much of a hurry I was in. I'd just climbed into the car when my phone rang, and I tried not to let out a squeal when I saw it was Edward. I had to calm myself and get over my fangirling. It wasn't like he and I had never talked before.

"Good morning," I answered.

"It is indeed. I was wondering if I could give you a ride to school. Alice is riding with Jasper, Emmett, and Rose today."

"Sure," I replied. It wasn't like I was going to say no to seeing Edward.

After we hung up, I climbed out of my car and went to wait on the steps of the porch. Less than ten minutes later, Edward pulled up in his shiny Volvo and got out to open the passenger door for me.

"Thanks," I told him.

"You bet," he said with a grin. "You look real pretty today. Not that you don't always look pretty."

I mumbled a thank you as I ducked my head to try and hide my blush from him, although there was no point. By now, all my friends knew I was an easy blusher and they went out of their way to make me blush, especially Emmett.

We talked the whole way to school and as we pulled into the lot, Edward asked if he could drive me to school everyday from then on. I paused before answering. It wasn't like he had football practice anymore so I wouldn't have to wait around, and Alice had started catching rides with Jasper more often than with me, and I knew that Charlie still worried about me driving to Riverton alone. So with a nod, I told Edward yes, but I informed him he had to let me pay for a gas once in a while. He tried to argue with me, but he eventually agreed.

Getting out of his car, we made our way inside and within seconds of walking in the door, I felt the stares and heard the whispers. _Weren't we past all of this? _Apparently not. From what I gathered as we walked down the hall, the girls from the movie theater had told everyone Edward and I had been there together. Add in the fact that we had arrived at school together and the rumor mill was winding up. I did my best to shake it off. I wasn't used to be talked about, but as Alice and Rose had pointed out to me last time, these people had nothing better to do than gossip. With a sigh, I headed down the hall toward my locker with Edward trailing behind me, stopping to talk to people along the way.

I'd just finished shoving some books into my bag when I saw Victoria out of the corner of my eye. Barely containing a sigh, I closed my locker and turned to face her.

"Can I help you?" I asked, not really caring if I sounded rude.

She gave me a stony glare before stomping off, leaving me a bit confused. Shaking my head, I looked back down the hall and noticed Edward was gone. I didn't have time to dwell on where he'd gone since the bell was about to ring.

My morning classes ended up being torture. Once again, everyone was speculating about Edward and me, and I'd pretty much run out of patience. It was none of their freaking business what Edward and I did or didn't do, and I finally snapped on a few people telling them just that. This whole small town shit was pissing me off. In Seattle, this would have never happened. Then again, in Seattle I had have never gone on a pre-date with one of the most popular guys in school. Oh, the joys of pre-dating a popular kid. Yes, I said pre-dating. That's what I had decided Edward and I were doing for now.

As soon as the bell rang, I stomped out of class and almost ran Emmett over.

"Whoa there, Bells. Everything okay?" he asked, tossing an arm around my shoulder.

"Stupid people and their stupid gossip are pissing me off," I told him with a scowl. He gave my shoulder a squeeze as he told me not to worry about things. Easier said than done.

After grabbing some lunch, we sat down at our table and I began to pick at the limp salad on my tray. I wasn't all that hungry, but I attempted to eat while listening to the others talk about their day. It was after about five minutes that I realized Edward hadn't arrived yet. I frowned wondering where he was when a commotion on the other side of the cafeteria caught my attention as well as everyone else.

"What the fuck did you just say?" I heard Edward snarl loudly at some guy that I didn't recognize. Immediately, Jasper and Emmett got up to see what was going on, and we followed them. Edward looked livid. His hands were in his fists at his sides, his jaw was clenched, and eyes were fierce with anger.

"What's going on, Ed?" Jasper asked, stopping behind Edward and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Bryce here was asking if he could have a turn with Bella after I'm done with her," he spat out, and my mouth fell open in disbelief. I didn't even know this guy. Why would he say something like that? Before I could say anything, Jasper and Emmett got all up in the guys face and before I could register what was happening, the four of them were on the floor rolling around.

Like vultures on a decomposing corpse, the student body descended upon the boys, chanting "fight, fight", and whooping and hollering. I was horrified and mortified. The last thing I wanted was anyone fighting over me or for me. Pushing my way past some of the students, I grabbed onto the closest shirt and yanked as hard as I could. Unfortunately, the shirt I yanked on belonged to Bryce and I got an elbow in the face for my efforts. My howl of pain stopped everything. I stood there, hands covering my nose as blood began to drip from it. I told myself I wasn't going to fain, but it did me know good. The last thing I saw was Edward's horrified face.

* * *

"Bella?" I heard a worried voice ask. "Wake up for me, pretty girl. C'mon."

Struggling, I managed to get my eyes open and saw Edward's extremely worried face hovering over mine. I blinked as tears stung my eyes, and I reached a hand up to touch my face when I notice the blood on them. Immediately, I began to get woozy again.

"Hey, focus on me, Bella. Alice, can you get something to wipe Bella's hands off with?"

With Edward's help I was able to sit up, and I slowly took in my surroundings. I was sitting on the cafeteria floor and there was a crowd gathered nearby. I could also hear Jasper and Emmett talking to the principal who had a stern look on his face.

A few minutes went by as I oriented myself, and Alice came back with some wet paper towels and wiped the blood off my hands. I felt like a total wuss. Animal blood didn't bother me, fish blood didn't bother me, but my own blood? That bothered me.

"Get Bella to the nurses off please, Alice. I have to go talk to the principal," Edward said as he helped me stand. With a nod, Alice took my arm and we, along with Rose, left the cafeteria and headed toward the nurse's office.

A examination by the nurse let me know that my nose wasn't broken, but it was bruised and chances were good I was going to have a black eye if not two. I scowled at the news. I didn't want to look like a raccoon. After taking some ibuprofen, I was told I could leave school for the rest of the day if I wanted. Seeing as how Edward was my ride, I really couldn't go anywhere, but I also didn't want to sit around school with a ice pack on my nose. I decided my best bet would be to call Charlie.

An hour later, I was sitting on the couch watching some horrible day time talk show and resting a bag of frozen peas on my face. One of my eyes had already begun to turn black, something I was extremely upset about. I sent a text off to Alice to let her know, and she swore she'd do some makeup magic and make it disappear, temporarily at least. I'd also sent a text to Edward but I hadn't heard anything back. From what Alice had told me, the boys were all in trouble, and it really upset me that they were in trouble because of me.

An hour later, my phone rang, and I sighed with relief when I saw it was Edward.

"How much trouble are you in?" I asked right away.

He let out a sigh. "A fair amount. Fighting isn't tolerated, no matter that we were defending your honor." I tried not to swoon, but it was kind of romantic to hear him say he was defending my honor.

"So?"

"Suspended until Thursday," he said.

I let out a gasp. "All of you?"

"Jas, Em, and I. Bryce just got an in-school suspension." I frowned. That didn't seem fair at all. After all, Bryce had elbowed me in the face. Sure, it was an accident, but he'd been fighting all the same. I expressed my displeasure of the punishment to Edward, and he agreed with me.

"Are your folks mad at me?" I asked him.

Edward let out a chuckle that did funny things to my insides. "Of course not, silly girl. Why would they be?"

"Um … because I got their kids in trouble."

"You didn't get us in trouble, we got ourselves in trouble. We could've just walked away from Bryce, but we didn't. That's on us."

His words did little to alleviate my guilt, so I decided to bake all the boys their favorite cookies. It would be my way of apologizing for them getting in trouble. After Edward and I hung up, I called Charlie and asked him to pick up some baking ingredients for me. The man grumbled the whole time I listed off the ingredients I would need, and then I made him read them back to me. He huffed the whole time but promised he'd get them for me.

The rest of the night was spent doing homework and baking. Poor Charlie was tormented by the smell of cookies and finally I gave in and allowed him to eat a few. Once all the cookies were baked and put in Tupperware, I cleaned up the kitchen and headed to bed.

I woke up the next morning feeling flushed from a rather naughty dream I'd had about Edward and hoped like hell Charlie wasn't home. There was no way to contain the blush that was on my face. After a quick shower, I grabbed the Tupperware containers and drove over to the Cullen house, giving myself plenty of time to get to school before the bell rang.

Edward opened the door and immediately my dream came to mind, and I blushed bright red much to Edward's delight.

"That is some blush, Swan. What brought that about?" he asked with a smirk.

_Oh, hell no. _There was no way on earth I was telling him. Rolling my eyes, I pushed past him and asked to see his brothers.

"They're in the kitchen. Mom made us get up early so we can spend all day helping her clean this place from top to bottom."

I headed into the kitchen and pulled the Tupperware containers out of my bag and set them on the table in front of each of the boys. Emmett got white chocolate, macadamia nut cookies, Jasper got chunky chocolate chip, and Edward got peanut butter.

"What's this for?" Jasper asked as he pulled his container closer to him.

"It's my way of saying thank you for defending me, and it's an I'm sorry that you got in trouble gift," I told him.

"Ah, Bells, you didn't have to bake for us. You're our friend and Eddie's girl. Of course, we're going to stand up for you," Em said before shoving a cookie in his mouth.

Upon hearing Emmett say I was Edward's girl, Esme turned around and came over to me, wrapping me in a hug. I was stunned for a moment and didn't know what to do so I hugged her back while mouthing for Edward to help me.

"Uh, Mom? Bella and I aren't dating yet. We're uh …" he trailed off looking at me for guidance.

"We're pre-dating," I told her as she let me go.

"Pre-dating?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh … yeah. Just to see how things go. Sort of testing the waters so to speak," I mumbled, embarrassed by the conversation we were having.

Thankfully, both Jasper and Emmett didn't say anything and Esme let the conversation drop by changing the subject and telling the boys what they'd be doing for the day. Noting the time, I waved goodbye to everyone and dashed out to Magnolia. I was opening my car door when Edward caught up to me.

"Thanks for the cookies," he told me in a soft voice, and I felt myself melt as I looked into his eyes.

"Thanks for defending me."

"Anytime," he told me, reaching out to brush his fingers across my cheek. "How are you feeling today"?

I shrugged. "Not too bad. I'm supposed to meet Alice before first period so she can cover up this black eye," I told him. "Well, I'd better go. I don't want to be late."

"Have a good day and stay out of trouble," he said, before reaching down and giving me a hug.

I clung to him for a moment, soaking up all of his Edwardness before I reluctantly let go. I told him I'd stop by later if he wanted me to and he eagerly agreed. With a wave, I climbed into my car and headed toward school.

I pulled into the parking lot with a few minutes to spare and found Alice and Rose waiting for me by Rose's car. It only took Alice a few minutes to make presentable and then we were off to class. And just like the day before, my name was being whispered in the halls. All anyone was talking about was the fight.

"How romantic was that?" I heard a freshman girl whisper to her friend. "I want a guy who will defend me like that."

I snorted and rolled my eyes, but she was right. It was sort of romantic. It wasn't until gym class the talk turned nasty. I had just come out of the bathroom stall where I'd changed when I heard Victoria talking.

"I can't believe they attacked poor Bryce like that. He was only stating what everyone already knows. Bella Swan has the whole football team in her pocket, and it's not because she's a nice person."

"Wait. You're saying that she's sleeping with them and that's why they attacked Bryce?" an unknown female voice asked.

"Exactly," Victoria said as if it was obvious.

I let out a snort. I had no idea I was such a slut. With an eye roll, I pushed past Victoria and the idiots listening to her and shoved my clothes into my gym locker. I'd thought about saying something but honestly, what was the point? These idiots were going to believe what they wanted to and know amount of arguing on my part would change their minds. Did it piss me off that I was being branded a slut by Icky Vicky? Of course. But, I was the bigger person and I wasn't afraid to bring up the issue with principal if I needed to.

The rest of my day seemed to drag on but thankfully, I didn't hear anymore rumors about myself. I'd been a bit anxious to go to art class seeing as how Tanya and Victoria were in there, but Mrs. Dormien had separated them and moved them to opposite ends of the room. I truly expected one of them to say something to me, but neither of them did. Not that it stopped them from sending me glares, particularly Victoria. It almost seemed as if Tanya had finally come to terms with the fact that Edward was no longer hers and I wasn't the enemy. Victoria, on the other hand, seemed to have decided to pick up where Tanya left off.

As the final bell of the day rang, I headed to my locker and found Alice and Rose standing beside it. They were talking in hushed tones and glanced up when I walked over to them.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Besides the fact that you're sleeping with our men," Rose joked. "Nothing."

I rolled my eyes. "I see Victoria's rumors are spreading then?"

Rose narrowed her eyes. "So she's the one behind it."

I nodded even though Rose hadn't asked a question. Rose got a look in her eyes, and I recognized it as one that would only lead to trouble.

"Bitch is going down," was all Rose said as we made our way out to the parking lot. I didn't ask what she was going to do because honestly, I didn't want to know. Ignorance is bliss. That way when Charlie questioned me, I could honestly say I had no idea what was going to happen.

The girls and I said our goodbyes, and I began the drive toward Wild Turkey. I had just approached the bridge when a loud popping noise scared the crap out of me and my car began to fishtail. Clutching the steering wheel with all my might, I straightened her out and pulled over on the side of the road. Getting out, making sure I had my keys clutched tightly in my hand, I walked around the front of the car and muttered an oath when I saw the flat tire on the passenger side.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Theoretically, I knew how to change a tire, but I'd never tried it before and I certainly didn't want to try it now. Pulling out my phone, I called the station where Emily informed Charlie was out on a call. Figures. The one time I desperately need him and something crime related actually happens in Wild Turkey. Huffing a sigh, I hung up and called Charlie's car insurance. They told me they'd send someone out to put on the spare but it wouldn't be for at least an hour. Figuring I could get a hold of Charlie before then, I thanked them and hung up.

I decided that sitting in the car would be safer than hanging out on the side of the road, I began to make my way around the car when a car pulled up behind me. I watched wearily as a guy in a baseball cap climbed out and walked toward me.

"Need some help?" came the voice of creepy James.

"Nope," I replied, feeling completely uneasy.

"Looks like you need help to me, sweet thing," he drawled with a sneer on his face.

"I said I don't need any help. I've got a tow truck on the way," I lied, hoping I sounded convincing. However, he didn't seem to buy my lie and kept coming toward me. My keys were clenched so tightly in my hand that my knuckles were turning white. I was positive he could smell fear coming off of me.

Just as he got close enough to invade my personal bubble, my phone rang. I almost sobbed with relief when I saw it was Charlie. Never taking my eyes off of James, I let Charlie know I had a flat. He promised to get there as quickly as possible. I thought for sure after I hung up with Charlie, that James would leave since he knew the chief was on his way, but he didn't.

"Look, James. My dad is on his way, you can go ahead and leave now," I told him forcefully, although I knew my voice shook a little.

"I think I'll stay a bit. It would be rude of me to leave a damsel in distress alone on the side of the road," he said in his slimy voice.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Now please leave," I said, getting more and more anxious and agitated.

"No," he told me as he leered at me and leaned against my car. Oh, my poor car was going to have to get washed now that his ass had touched it.

Realizing that James wasn't going anywhere, I called Charlie.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"James is here and he won't leave me alone," I told him, not even attempting to keep my voice low. James snarled at me as I spoke to Charlie, but I did my best not to show how scared I was.

"Hang on, kiddo. I'm throwing the sirens on, and I'll be there as quickly as I can, but stay on the phone with me."

So, I did. I told him all about my day at school, we talked about sports and fishing, and other mundane things until I saw him driving over the bridge. That was when James left, but not before he told me to watch my back and that he'd see me real soon.

"By the way, sweet thing, you really need to change your passwords. It's stupid to use the same one for all your accounts," he said with a wink as he climbed into his car.

I froze at his words. How did he know what my password was and why would he say that unless—no. _Holy crap!_ He was the one who broke into our house. He had my freaking laptop!

"Dad!" I shouted before he even parked the cruiser. "Dad! James. He's the one who broke into our house. I can't prove it really, but he's the one."

Charlie put up a hand to quiet me and asked me why I thought that. I quickly explained what James had said to me, and Charlie listened, nodding his head.

"Unfortunately, I can't get a warrant with just that little bit of information, but I'll definitely keep a lookout and have Sam do the same. If James tries to fence your laptop we'll get him."

I watched as Charlie began the process of changing my tire and then my phone beeped. Checking it, I noticed I had several missed texts from Edward.

"Crap!" I muttered.

"What?" Charlie asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing. I'd told Edward I'd stop over at his place after school, and he's worried he hasn't heard from me."

"Well text him back and let him know you're okay."

So, I did just that. I explained about the flat tire, creepy James, and how Charlie had come to my rescue. Edward was not happy to hear that James had been near me, but I explained again that I was fine, but I probably wouldn't be coming over since I needed a new tire.

An hour later, I was pulling into our drive with Charlie behind me, and I'd never been so glad to be home. It also didn't hurt that there was a tall, gorgeous, bronze-haired Adonis waiting for me on the front steps.

"Hey!" I said, surprised to see him.

"Hey, yourself. I hope you don't mind me stopping by," he said, standing up and dusting off his pants.

"Not at all. Where's the Volvo?" I asked.

"Mom needed to borrow it for the afternoon. She dropped me off," he explained.

"Bells?" Charlie asked, interrupting us. "I've got to head back to the station, but I'll take your car in tomorrow for a new tire. Can you catch a ride to school with someone?"

I nodded and we both waved goodbye as Charlie climbed back into his cruiser and left. I'd thought for sure Charlie would insist on me not being alone with Edward, then again, Charlie trusted me.

"So what did you do all day?" I asked as we sat on the back porch and looked out over the yard.

He groaned before replying. "Mom made us clean out the attic. It was a nightmare, Bella. A freaking nightmare. It didn't help that there were spiders up there and Emmett's deathly afraid of them. He freaked out anytime something touched him thinking a spider was out to get him."

I didn't even try to hold in my snicker. It was funny. Big, bad Emmett was afraid of spiders. I tucked that information away for when I would need it, and I had no doubt someday I would.

"How about you? Survive okay without my charming person being there?"

I snorted and gave him a shrug. "Yeah, it was okay. Although, Victoria is letting it be known that I'm sleeping with the football team."

Edward was outraged and flew into a rant about Icky Vicky and took me a while to calm him down. It was only when I told him Rose had a plan that he quieted.

"Sorry. It just pisses me off to hear them talking shit about you," he said, staring out into the yard.

"Hmm. I believe you thought shit about me at one point."

"Yeah, yeah. I was a complete ass, and I'll never be able to apologize enough. I've learned my lesson though, and I was so completely wrong to think badly about you. You're an amazing person," he told me, reaching over and picking up my hand.

"You're not so bad yourself," I said, my voice quiet and my heart racing. I loved the way my hand felt in his and I hoped he did to.

"Will you go out on another pre-date with me this weekend?" he asked, tracing my palm with his fingers.

"No, but I will go out on a date with you," I told him, smiling when his head shot up and he looked at me.

"Really?"

I nodded and his face broke into a beautiful smile.

"Excellent. I'll make the arrangements and then pick you up on Saturday morning, if that's okay?"

"Sounds perfect," I told him, unable to help but smile back at him.

He dropped my hand and pulled me in for a hug, and I was more than willing to comply. There was something wonderful about being in his arms. Slowly, we pulled apart and I found myself gazing into his eyes before dropping to his lips. They looked perfect and I desperately wanted to know what they felt like. Apparently, he felt the same because he lowered his head until his lips were hovering over mine. I closed my eyes and began to lean in.

"Edward, honey! Are you here?" Esme called from the front yard, causing us to jump apart. We grinned at each other sheepishly before making our way around to the front.

"There you are. Sorry to ruin your fun kids, but we have to go. Carlisle has an important dinner tonight that we're all attending which I completely forgot about," she said, practically shoving Edward into the Volvo.

With a wave, I watched as they drove off then sat down on the steps and contemplated the almost kiss. We had been so close, and I just knew it would have been perfect. Guess, I'd have to wait and hope he would try to kiss me on Saturday.

* * *

**a/n: Ah, good ole flat tires. I got one of those on not too long ago. Not so much fun at all. Alright gang, see you next Friday!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: As always, thanks for the reviews! I love reading them! They really make my day. I would've put this up last night except I pulled a double shift at work. Sixteen hours on one hour of sleep not to mention that I'm battling a demon cold from hell. Grrr. I also won't be updating until next Sunday. I'm off to Vegas on Wednesday and won't get back until late Saturday night. Here's hoping this cold is gone by then and I come back with some moolah. **

* * *

I swore it had been the longest week ever and it was only Thursday. I growled in frustration as I let my head drop on the desk in front of me. Ever since Edward had asked me out, I couldn't freaking wait for Saturday to arrive, but it just wasn't arriving fast enough. It didn't help that I'd been swamped with homework and studying for upcoming tests.

"Are you feeling okay, Bella?" Mr. Masen asked, stopping by my desk.

With a mumbled yes, I sat up and turned my attention back to the book we were currently discussing. A book which I'd finished weeks ago while my fellow peers were still reading a few chapters at a time. I wished Mr. Masen would let me do an independent study for this class, but it wasn't allowed until you were a senior.

A quick glance at the clock showed a few more minutes left of class, but I still had hours left of school and days before my date. Edward, it seemed, was feeling the same frustration I was as I caught up with him in the hallway after English.

"Is it Saturday yet?" he asked, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

I shook my head. "Sadly, no and I swear the days are dragging. I'm afraid it's never going to be Saturday."

He gave me shoulders a squeeze as he let out a chuckle. "I suppose I could move our date up a day or two."

"No. You asked me out for Saturday so that's when we were going out. No changing the plan no matter how badly I want you to."

"Alright, well have fun in math. I'll see you next hour," he told me as we stopped in front of my math class. With a scowl, I gave him a wave and made my way inside the classroom.

This class was the worst. Not only did Alice and I sit nowhere near each other anymore, but the stuff we were learning was way complicated. Emmett did his best to help me out when he could, but it made no difference. I still didn't understand it, and it wasn't like I was ever going to use calculus in the real world.

The hour dragged on and on and on until it got to the point where I swore time actually stopped. Eventually, the bell rang and with a wave toward Alice, I booked it to history class. It wasn't that I loved history, but I did love spending time with Edward even if it was in a classroom full of people.

"I take it you survived calc?" he asked as I sat down next to him and dropped my bag on the floor.

"Barely. I swear my math teacher is just making stuff up as he goes along," I told him, my voice slightly muffled as I bent over to grab my history book, notebook, and a pen from my bag.

"You know Em will help you out."

"I know."

Not much more was said as Mr. Nak began the lesson. We were currently studying the Civil War and I had to admit, I found it quite interesting. Before class was over Mr. Nak told us he had an announcement to make.

"Now, I'm sure you all have heard about the big junior class history project. Whether it be from older students or sibling. Well folks, I'm happy to tell you that starting after Christmas Break you will begin your projects. There will be two people to a group and from there you'll pick a topic from a list I give you."

His announcement was met with groans and boos, and I just hoped like hell I got paired up with Edward. I certainly didn't want to get paired up with Eric or Tyler who were also in the class, and I let out a sigh of relief when Mr. Nak told me I'd be working with Edward. After pairing everyone off, he handed a couple sheets of paper containing project ideas.

"Go ahead and pair up with your partner and use the rest of the class period to discuss what subject you want your project to be on."

I'd barely even glanced at the list in front of me when I saw a huge grin cross Edward's face. I guess he knew what he wanted us to do. Reaching over, he grabbed my chair and slid it and me right up next to him before leaning in close to me.

"We have to do our project on the Pony Express. Please," he begged, his lower lip pouting and it took everything in me not to reach over and give it a nip.

I raised an eyebrow a bit surprised by how much Edward seemed to want to study the Pony Express, but nothing else on the list really caught my eye, so I agreed. He grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze before thanking me over and over. I couldn't contain my snicker and asked him why he was so interested in the Pony Express.

"My great, great, great-grandfather or something close to that was a member of the Pony Express. I think Mom has an old satchel that he wore and some other stuff stored safely away in the attic."

"That's cool," I told him as I thought about my ancestors and couldn't recall any of them having cool jobs. Then again, genealogy wasn't my thing.

Surprisingly, the rest of the day actually went by quickly and Edward and I waved goodbye to his family and our friends as we headed home.

"Want to hang out at the beach when we get home?" he asked.

"Sure but only for an hour or two. I have a test to study for and tons of homework," I told him, even though I really should just go home. But, I didn't want to miss spending time with him and really? Who wanted to study when they could hang out with a hot guy on a beach?

Minutes later, we were walking down a small path and onto Pelican Beach. The wind whipped my hair around us and there was a definite chill in the air. Seemed like winter was finally coming to Wild Turkey.

I followed Edward down the beach until he stopped and placed the blanket he'd taken from his trunk on the ground. Holding out a hand to me, I took it and allowed him to pull me down onto the blanket with him. I fought back a shiver as I sat down next to him and immediately, he wrapped an arm around me. I loved the feel of his arm around me, and I leaned closer, snuggling into him.

We sat there in silence for quite some time, but it wasn't uncomfortable; it was nice and peaceful. Eventually, I broke the silence asking Edward what he was doing for Christmas.

"We usually fly down to Brazil to visit Dad's parents. They own an island and the whole family gathers for holidays down there," he told me, shocking the hell out of me. _Who the hell owned an entire island? _The Cullen family apparently.

"Your family owns an island?" I asked, turning to face him.

He nodded. "Yeah, Dad's family is extremely wealthy. They made a fortune back in the day. Mom's family made most of their money in the cotton trade."

"Whoa. I'm so far out of your league it isn't even funny," I mumbled as I turned back around to face the ocean.

"What?" he sputtered. "Why in the world would you even say that?" he asked, but I couldn't look him in the eye. I'd known the Cullens were well off, but not that well off. It made me feel like I wasn't worthy of him. It was stupid, I knew that.

"Bella?" he asked, putting a finger under my chin and tilting my head to face him.

"It's true. I come from a middle class family if even that. My grandparents don't own islands or have tons of money. The Swans have mostly been loggers where as my mother's side of the family tended to be factory workers. No island owners here."

"I could care less about how much money your family has. I don't like you because of your family. I like you because of you. I could care less if you were dirt poor and lived in a cave on the beach."

"Yeah, but you all are so pretty and perfect and –"

I was cut off by his warm lips being pressed to mine, and I swore I went into shock. _Edward Cullen was kissing me!_ For a moment I did nothing before my brain kicked in and told me to kiss him back. It could have been hours that we stayed there with our lips locked together, when in fact it was only mere minutes. Eventually, the need to breathe kicked in and we slowly parted. Was it how I dreamed our first kiss would be? No, of course not. But, it was perfect and I wouldn't change if for anything.

"Don't ever let me hear you say you aren't good enough or too far out of my league. That's a bunch of bull and you know it. I want to be with you. Please don't doubt that," he begged, and I couldn't resist leaning over and giving his lips a light peck after I agreed to no longer doubt him or myself.

"Good. Now come here," he said, pulling me closer and holding me tight as he leaned in for another kiss. It was just as wonderful as the first one, especially when his tongue traced the seam of my lips begging for entrance. Who was I to deny him? Eagerly, I complied, moaning at the feel of his tongue against mine. It was perfect.

And it would have stayed perfect except the sky chose that moment to open up and within seconds we were drenched by cold rain. Nothing I wasn't used to, but Edward seemed a bit alarmed. Yanking away, he scrambled to gather up the blanket and we made a run toward his car. As soon as his car started, we were on the road and heading to my house, and I was a bit amused.

"It's just a bit of rain, Edward," I said as he carefully maneuvered the streets of Wild Turkey.

"It's a bit more than that. There's been a tropical storm brewing for a while, and I think we're about to get hit with it. The weatherman had said it wouldn't hit until next week, but I think he was wrong."

_A tropical storm? _I sure as hell hoped that didn't translate to hurricane because there was no way in hell I wanted to experience that. It was only about a ten minute drive to my house from Pelican Beach, but the wind and the rain had picked up making Edward drive more cautiously.

Once we reached my house, Edward and I ran for the porch where I scrambled to unlock the door. Just as I opened the door a huge gust of wind came and almost yanked the screen door off it's hinges and I heard a branch crack and fall to the ground nearby. Yeah, I so wasn't liking this weather. Rushing to the linen closet, I grabbed a couple of towels for us to dry off with while Edward turned the TV on. Apparently, tropical storm Dean was about to hit us.

I handed Edward his towel and did my best not to stare or drool when he took his shirt off to dry his chest. I failed miserably.

"Uh … I can put your clothes in the dryer if you want to borrow something of Charlie's to wear."

"That would be great," he said with a grin, having totally busted me staring at him. Mumbling that I'd be right back, I headed to Charlie's room and found some sweatpants and a t-shirt then headed to the living room and gave them to Edward. While he was changing, I went to my room and changed as well before heading to the laundry room. The ringing of my phone scared the crap out of me and I let out an embarrassing squeak.

"Hello?"

"Bells? Are you okay?"

I let out a sigh at hearing Charlie's voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm here at home with Edward. We were at the beach when the storm hit."

The connection became gargled and I couldn't hear Charlie very well, but I was pretty sure he told me to stay put. I agreed and moments later a fierce howling wind erupted and could honestly say I was absolutely terrified.

"Bella?" Edward called out.

"In here," I hollered back as I began shoving my clothes into the dryer.

He walked in and I couldn't believe how good he looked in a pair of ratty sweats. It was totally unfair. He handed me his clothes and I tossed them in the dryer, turning it on, before we headed back into the living room.

"Do you all have a generator?" he asked me, and I told him no. I was fairly certain Charlie hadn't gotten around to getting one yet. Edward nodded then told me to gather some candles since chances were good we were going to loose power. I did as he told me, grabbing some blankets, a deck of cards, matches, a lighter, and some bottled water as well. I dumped everything in the living room and watched as Edward began to organize things. I was so very glad he was here with me. If I'd been alone, I know I'd have been a hysterical wreck.

"You should try calling your folks and letting them know where you are," I said as I sat down on the couch.

"Already did. They told me to stay put," he said, sitting down next to me and pulling me close.

We sat there cuddled closely together as the storm raged outside and the weatherman on the TV told us what to expect. We'd been sitting for about twenty minutes when there was a loud crash. The lights went out and everything became eerily quiet except for the wind outside. To say I was freaked out would have been an understatement.

"Hey," Edward said in a soothing tone. "We're going to be just fine. Help me light these candles, okay?"

Nodding even though he couldn't see me, I grabbed the lighter from the coffee table and with shaky hands, started lighting candles. Wrapping his arms around me, Edward tucked me against his chest once we had the candles lit, then tossed the blanket over us.

"We're going to be fine," he said again, and I almost believed him. I wasn't a stranger to storms by any means, but I'd never dealt with a tropical storm before. The winds were incredibly fierce and I swore I heard glass shattering at the back of the house.

"If we'd had more time, we could've boarded up the windows but since we didn't, you're bound to have some broken ones come morning."

I nodded, clutching his hands in mine as the wind seemed to get worse. A kiss to the back of my head and to my temple calmed me a bit, but I was still scared. A while later, Edward suggested we do our homework just in case we had school the next day and I was grateful for the distraction. It was a bit harder doing homework by candlelight but I got it done, and I was exhausted by the time we finished. We curled back up on the couch and at some point, I dozed off with my head resting on Edward's chest and his arms wrapped around me. I woke up briefly at the sound of a soft snore in my ear, but I quickly fell back asleep.

"Bells!" I heard Charlie holler, and I jolted awake almost knocking my head against Edward's chin.

"Wake up!" I hissed to him. "My dad's home and I don't think he'd approve of our sleeping arrangement."

Groggily, Edward opened his eyes and moved back a bit, letting me go. The second I was free I booked it into the kitchen where I could hear Charlie tinkering around.

"Hey, kid," he said wearily. "I'm only home to change clothes. The island took a bit of a hit with that storm last night and school is canceled for you guys. How are things around here?"

"I think some windows broke during the storm and as you can see the power is out."

"Edward here?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he's on the couch," I said, not informing Charlie I'd been on the couch as well.

"His car took some damage," Charlie said with a wince, and I barely saw Edward as he ran past us and toward the front door. He yanked it open and let out a low moan at what he saw. Peering under his shoulder, I saw that a rather large tree branch had landed on his car, leaving a nice dent in the hood and a smashed windshield. Chances were good the inside was ruined due to the rain.

"Oh, my poor baby," he said with a sigh as he walked toward her for a better look. Thankfully, my car had escaped any major damage, and I offered to give Edward a ride home.

We said goodbye to Charlie who told me he'd have someone come by and board up the windows until we could replace them, and I drove slowly toward the Cullen home. The roads were filled with debris and several times we had to get out of the car to remove branches or garbage cans that were in the middle of the road. We finally reached the Cullen home, and I was relieved to see it looked to be in good shape. The second the car was in park, Esme rushed out and wrapped us both up in hugs.

"You're okay?" she asked. "Both of you?"

We nodded in response and allowed her to drag us into the house. Jasper, Emmett, and Carlisle were all seated around the kitchen table. Immediately, we were hugged as we assured them we were alright.

"My car took a nasty hit," Edward told them as we ate some toast that Carlisle made.

"How bad?" Carlisle asked.

"Well, it's under a branch at the moment. The hood's going to have a big dent and the windshield is smashed. There's probably water damage as well," he said, looking sad at the thought of his car being damaged.

"We'll go have a look after breakfast. I'm sure Jake can fix it up or tell us someone who can."

Several hours later, Edward's car had been towed to Clearwater's garage, the windows of my house had been boarded up, and I was busy cleaning debris off the back porch. The boys had come over earlier and helped me clean up the yard before heading over to Alice's house and then Rose's. As I finished sweeping some leaves and branched off the porch a glint caught my eye. I bent down and picked up a small diamond heart that looked like it had fallen off someone's charm bracelet. I stared at it for a few minutes trying to figure out why it seemed familiar, but I came up empty. Tucking it away in my pocket, I went back to cleaning and forty minutes later, I had the back porch clear. Exhausted, I plopped down in one of the surviving lounge chairs and took the charm back out of my pocket.

The longer and harder I stared at it the more frustrated I got. Growling, I shoved it back in my pocket and headed around to the front yard. The guys had cleaned up the biggest branches, so I went about cleaning up the little stuff. Once it was all done, I was sweaty and disgusting so I hopped inside for a cold shower since our power was still out.

Cleaned and dressed, I gave Charlie a call to find out when he was coming home and what he wanted for dinner.

"The Flamingo has power so why don't we meet there for dinner at around seven?" he suggested. Agreeing, I hung up and sent Edward text just to say hi. I got a text back a few minutes later telling me he and his brothers were busy helping to fix the roof at the campground and he'd call me later.

By nine that night, I was completely exhausted and I had school first thing in the morning. Edward had texted me asking if I could give him a ride since his car was out of commission for a while. I had eagerly agreed. We'd talked for a while before my yawns had taken over and I could barely keep my eyes open. He'd bid me a goodnight, hung up, and I'd almost fallen asleep when I realized where the charm was from.

"Holy shit!" The charm was Tanya's. She'd been wearing it on her charm bracelet the first time I'd met her. How the hell had it ended up on my porch? Unless–no. Could she? Yeah, she totally could've helped James break into my house. I frowned as I tried to remember if James and Tanya knew each other, and it was probable they did. This was a small town after all. But why? Why would they conspire to break into my house? It made no sense to me. It was a question that would keep me up most of the night.

* * *

Finally, finally, Saturday arrived. It had taken far too long and now that it was here, I was more than a little nervous. Why, I wasn't sure, but I was. Perhaps it was because not only was I going on my first date in a long time, but my first real date with Edward. When I'd asked him where we were going he wouldn't tell me, but he did tell me to dress casual and to bring a hoodie or sweater.

By nine, I was pacing the floor in the living room and driving Charlie insane. More than once he'd told me to sit down and he couldn't figure out why I was so nervous. I'd tried to explain it to him, but he just hadn't gotten it. After what felt like forever the doorbell rang and I raced to open it.

Standing before me was an incredibly awesome sight. Edward was wearing a light blue sweater with a pair of worn jeans and black chucks. He looked good enough to eat.

"Good morning, Bella."

"It is indeed," I muttered, blushing when I realized what I'd said out loud. Edward let out a chuckle, said hi to Charlie, and then walked me to Carlisle's Mercedes.

"My car won't be fixed for a while, so Dad's letting me borrow his," he explained as I slid into the passenger seat.

I asked where we were going once we were on the road, but all Edward would tell me was that we were going to Mobile and we'd be there most of the day. An hour and a half later, we were pulling up in front of the Mobile Museum of Art. I was ecstatic. I'd been wanting to visit it once I'd found out there was an art museum nearby.

"This is awesome!" I exclaimed, turning to face Edward. "Thank you so much!"

He let out a laugh as he told me he thought it would be a perfect place for us to have our first date. He was beyond right. We got out of the car and he took my hand as we walked into the museum.

I was in heaven. No, really I was. Not only was I at an art museum, but I was at one with a beautiful boy who was mine. Or at least I hoped he was.

"Could you ever imagine seeing your art in a museum?" he asked out of the blue as we looked at some landscapes done by 19th century artists.

"Nah. I'm decent, but I'm not that good. Besides, I paint for me. I'm not sure I would want a ton of people ogling my works."

"Will you paint something for me?" he asked, giving me his best puppy dog look.

"Like what?"

He shrugged. "Whatever you want."

I stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Okay, but it might be a while."

He shrugged and told me there was no time limit, he just wanted something of mine. We spent hours at the museum looking at and discussing all the works of art, and I didn't think I'd ever been on a better date.

"Are you getting hungry?" he asked as we left the museum, and I told him yes.

Minutes later, we were seated at a little Italian bistro and our waitress, Amber, was openly ogling Edward. I could hardly contain an eye-roll. If you're gonna ogle someone else's man at least be subtle about it.

"What can I get you to drink?" she asked Edward, completely ignoring me. There went her tip. Edward gestured for me to give my drink order, then he gave his. Our waitress walked away looking a bit put out that Edward hadn't paid her much attention.

"There you go again dazzling people," I told him with a smirk.

Confusion crossed his face. "What?"

I rolled my eyes at his confusion. "Oh, come on. You have to know the effect you have on people."

He shook his head and asked what I was on about. With a giggle, I explained to him that he had a way of dazzling the female population whether he knew it or not.

"Do I dazzle you?" he asked me.

"Frequently."

His smile lit up his face. "Well, you're the only one I care to dazzle."

Our waitress arrived back at our table with our Cokes then asked if we were ready to order. I grimaced when Edward ordered the mushroom ravioli. Mushrooms were so gross. When it was my turn, I ordered the chicken Alfredo. We made small talk as we ate our lunch and I asked him if we were heading home afterward.

"Nope. I've still got plans for you," he said with a grin.

"Nefarious ones?"

He barked out a laugh. "No, silly girl. I figured we could either hit up a movie or walk along the beach. You pick."

I waited to decide until after lunch. The weather had been pretty nice so far but as we stepped outside and walked back to Edward's car the wind had really picked up.

"How about a movie?"

"Sounds good," he said with a smile.

We ended up going to see some romantic comedy that was neither romantic nor comedic. More like borderline porn and cheesy one liners. The movie had more nudity than I thought should have been allowed, and I felt more than a bit awkward sitting next to Edward watching some half-naked girl get it on. By the slight squirming and red face that Edward was sporting, I'd say he was feeling just as awkward. I swore we both let out a sigh of relief once the movie was over.

"Well," was all he said as we left the theater.

"Yep," was my reply.

In an attempt to rid us of the awkwardness, Edward suggested we get some ice cream and take a stroll on the boardwalk despite the chilly weather. I was more than okay with that, especially since the movie had left me a bit hot and bothered. We got our ice cream and strolled slowly, hand in hand, down the beach. The beaches here weren't as nice as the ones back home, but it was nice to be away from everyone. Eventually, the windchill made it more than a bit uncomfortable to be strolling about and the sun was beginning to set. Deciding we'd better head home, we walked back to the Mercedes and began the drive to Wild Turkey.

"So how do you think our date has gone?" Edward asked once we were back in the car.

Grinning, I told him it had gone wonderfully and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect first date. A huge smile graced his face, and I reached over and took one of his hands and gave it a squeeze. He was too freaking adorable.

I felt a bit of sadness and a twinge of disappointment that our date was over as he pulled into my drive. I knew we'd have other dates, but we'd never have another first date. This was our one and only.

Edward got out of the car once it was parked and came around to my side, opening my door. With his hand in mine, he walked me to the front door before leaning down and wrapping me up in a hug. Eagerly, I melted into his embrace. I had to admit, Edward gave good hug. Snuggled close, he told me in a whisper how wonderful of a time he'd had and how he hoped there were many more dates in our future. I assured him there would be.

"So, if I asked you to be my girlfriend …" he trailed off.

"I'd gladly say yes," I told him, pulling away slightly to look at his face.

"Well then, Bella Swan, will you be my girl?"

"Of course," I answered with a cheesy grin. Almost immediately, his lips were pressed against mine and I returned his kiss with just as much passion. Our breaths mingled, teeth nipped, tongues dueled, and then Charlie opened the door ruining our moment.

He cleared his throat before asking, "I take it you all had a good time?"

I dropped my head to Edward's chest, my face on fire, but I nodded to answer Charlie's question. After a quick goodbye, Edward left and I was left to face Charlie. Nothing good could come from you father seeing you make out with your boyfriend, but Charlie didn't say a word, just raised an eyebrow.

"We're officially dating," I mumbled as I strode past Charlie and into the house.

"So I take it, we'll be seeing a lot more of Edward than we already do?"

I nodded. Charlie let out a sigh as he stroked his mustache. "Okay. He's a nice guy, I know his folks, but I swear to God, Bella. If that boy hurts you again, there's no telling what I might do," he warned.

Again, I nodded. I was actually surprised Charlie hadn't opened the door toting a gun and threatening Edward's very existence. I was extremely glad he hadn't. The last time I'd dated, Charlie had made sure to be very menacing looking. It was a miracle I'd ever dated at all.

Over a late dinner, I told Charlie all about my date with Edward and the whole awesomeness of it all. Charlie was pleased to hear it had gone well. After dinner, I recalled the whole date with Alice and Rose over a conference call. They both agreed that Edward was a sweetie who definitely knew how to show a girl a great first date. They had no idea how right they were.

"And kisses?" Alice asked. "There were kisses, right?"

"Oh, yeah," I said with a dreamy sigh as I remembered Edward's kisses.

Rose cracked up. "Those must have been some kisses."

"They always are," I replied causing them to freak out. They both demanded to know when I'd had my first kiss with Edward and I explained it had been the day of the tropical storm. Both girls seemed a bit putout I hadn't told them about it.

"Sorry, ladies. It didn't occur to me to tell you guys. We've been so busy with cleaning up and school, I just never brought it up."

Thankfully, I was forgiven. We talked for a while long until I got a text from Edward telling me again what a great day he had, and then he invited me to brunch at the Cullen casa. I was totally on board with that. Edward and I texted until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore, and I eventually climbed into bed.

As I lay there listening to the wind blow, I thought about my day, and I was pretty confident it had been one of the best days of my life. I could only hope to have more and chances were I would, especially with Edward by my side.

* * *

**a/n: Was it worth the wait? I'd like to think so. They definitely had a great first date. My first date with the hubby was to a rock concert for a band I'd never even heard of and we went with sister. Not the best of dates. What was your first date?**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews last chapter! They make me happy. I'm back from my vacation and I totally need another one. Vegas always tends to leave me worn out plus my flight back was hell. Turbulence, hot, jammed pack, and three screaming, crying babies. But I'm home now and more than a little tired, but I wanted to get this chapter up for you. As always, all mistakes are my own.**

* * *

I was greeted first thing Monday morning with a fierce kiss to my lips that left me breathless and my lips tingling. Good morning to me. I shook my head to clear the fog that appeared thanks to Edward before I smiled at him and wished him a good morning.

"Indeed, it sure is. I can't say I've honestly enjoyed a Monday morning so much," he told me with a wink as he opened the passenger door for me. Always the gentleman, he was. After a quick peck to his lips, I climbed in and waited as he walked around the car and got behind the wheel.

The ride to school was spent holding hands, flirting, and making eyes at each other. It had never been like this with my previous boyfriend. I sure hadn't felt nearly as much with him as I did with Edward. Although, we had just begun dating and as much as it scared me, I knew without a doubt that I as irrevocably in love with Edward and he was it for me. If he ever broke up with me, I'd be devastated and I was fairly certain I wouldn't be able to recover. That thought scared me and wanted me to beg Edward not to hurt me again, but I knew how unrealistic that was. Couples fought and whether they meant to or not, they tended to hurt each other.

"You're awfully quiet all of a sudden," Edward said, interrupting my thoughts. "Are you okay?"

I nodded and gave his hand a squeeze. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking, that's all."

As if he understood I wasn't ready to talk about what it was I was thinking, he squeezed my hand back and stayed quiet until we pulled into the school parking lot. As we got out of the car, he walked around to my side, and grabbed my bag from my hand, tossing it over his shoulder before grabbing my hand. I wanted to protest that I was capable of carrying my own bag, but it was really sweet and I knew it was the gentleman in him. Ignoring the stares that I was slowly becoming used to, we made our way inside the school and down the halls toward my locker.

At my locker, Edward handed me my bag and I quickly switched out the books I would need before we headed down the hall toward his locker. When Edward opened his locker there were several folded pieces of paper on the bottom that had obviously been shoved through the slits of his locker. Picking one up, Edward opened it then let out a sound of disgust.

"Love letter?" I asked, jokingly.

"You could say that," he said, handing me the piece of paper. Needless to say, I was disturbed by the graphic imagery the person had written. It was crass, not too mention, disgusting.

"Are they all like this?" I asked him as he gathered up the other papers. He scanned them quickly, his face filled with disgust.

"I really hope these are joke," he growled as he stalked over to the trash bin and tossed them. I hoped so and I was going to be questioning Emmett the minute I saw him. I could see him doing something like that.

"There's my favorite couple," Alice shouted as she ran over to us and threw her arms around us both. I snickered at her and caught Edward rolling his eyes.

"I thought we were your favorite couple, Ali," Jasper said with a pout.

"I meant besides us," she told him as if he should have known that.

"Well now my feelings are hurt. How can you say that Bells and Eddie are your favorite couple when they aren't even a couple?" Emmett said from behind us.

"We're a couple," Edward and I said at the same time with matching, silly grins. Emmett raised an eyebrow at our news.

"Well it's about damned time," he said, clapping Edward on the shoulder.

"Hey, Emmett?" I asked. "You didn't happen to write a bunch of overly graphic porn descriptions of what you wanted to do to Edward, did you?"

The look on Emmett's face would've been hilarious if I wasn't seriously asking. He told us he hadn't done it, but he sure wished he'd thought of it. I'd really been hoping Emmett was the one behind them, and I knew Edward had been as well. The last thing we wanted or needed to deal with was some crazy, stalker girl who wrote obscene letters. Or crazy, stalker guy. Whichever.

I was so preoccupied in class that I didn't even hear Mr. Masen call on me until Felix poked me in the back. I quickly answered the question, my face burning.

"You okay?" I heard Felix whisper from behind me. I nodded and quietly whispered back that I'd explain later. Felix and I hadn't hung out much lately. He'd been busy with Marcus and I'd been dealing with Edward/Tanya/James/Victoria drama. We really needed to hang out and soon.

"Spill it, Swan. What's going on?" Felix demanded to know the minute class was over. Quickly and quietly, I told him about the notes Edward had received and Felix was a bit horrified when I gave him some of the details.

"For the record, I don't think it's Tanya. That's not her style, and I think she's come to terms with the fact that E is no longer hers. I'm thinking it's Victoria or even Jane or Lauren. One of those girls."

"It's possible. Although, why they waited until now to give them to him is beyond me."

Felix looked at me like I was stupid. "It's because you and Edward are together. It's obvious to anyone with eyes that E is in love with you."

My mind completely stopped. _Edward, in love with me?_ But–that was crazy. He couldn't be in love with me. Granted, I was in love with him, but that was totally different. _Wasn't it?_ I was so lost in my thoughts I almost got run over by Emmett.

"Whoa, Little B. You can't just stop in the middle of the traffic lane. You gotta put on your hazards if you're gonna stand still and think," he said with a grin.

Absently, I nodded and began to move over, but I was stopped when Emmett threw an arm around my shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked, concern on his face.

"She's fine," Felix answered for me. "A bit in shock though."

Emmett looked at Felix questioningly and Felix explained what he'd said. Emmett nodded and told me it was true.

"Ed's been crazy in love with you since the minute he saw you. Sure, he acted like an ass, but what did you expect? He was with someone else at the time and didn't understand what he was feeling. It's all good now though. I mean, you love him back, right?"

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out, and I finally settled on nodding.

"Excellent! Now, off to class you go," he said, pushing me in the right direction.

I barely remembered anything that happened in math class, and I could see Alice eying me and dying to say something. As soon as class was over, Alice cornered me and demanded to know what had me acting all weird. I shook my head and told her I wasn't ready to talk about it. She gave me one last concerned look but thankfully let the subject drop.

Almost in a daze, I made my way into history class and took my seat, refusing to meet Edward's worried gaze. He knew something was up, and I wondered if Emmett or Felix had said anything to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, taking my hand in his.

I nodded. "I'm fine," I told him with a smile, but I could see he wasn't convinced. "Really, I am. Just something Felix said has me thinking."

"What did he say?"

I shook my head and told him now wasn't the time or place to discuss it, and he made me promise we would talk about it on the way home. I agreed, but I was terrified. _What if Felix and Em were wrong? What if I confessed my love for Edward and he didn't return my feelings?_ I'd be crushed; devastated really.

After lunch, which I didn't eat much of, I headed to art where I was looking forward to taking out my fear and nerves on the canvas. As I walked into class, the first thing I noticed, was that Tanya was absent. One last thing to worry about. Although, truth be told, Icky Vicky was the one I was beginning to worry about. She seemed to have picked up where Tanya left off. I'd seen her tormenting freshman and others over the past few weeks.

"What are you looking at, Swan?" she sneered when she got me looking her way. _Did she really want me to answer that?_

Ignoring her, I got my easel set up and my paints ready. For the next forty minutes, I lost myself in the painting and was startled when Mrs. Dormien told us to clean up. I hadn't realized class was almost over. As I was washing out my brushes, Victoria came over and got in my personal space.

"So, I hear you and Edward are official now," she said, using air quotes around the word official.

"And this is your business why?" I asked.

She shrugged. "It's high school, therefore it's everyone's business."

I rolled my eyes and muttered whatever before moving away. Something about her was off. Thankfully, the rest of school passed without incident, but I was getting more and more nervous about the talk Edward and I were about to have.

Grabbing my crap from my locker, I met Edward out by his car and we climbed in, the silence between us almost stifling. As we drove, I noticed his fingers thrumming on the steering wheel and could see he was as nervous as me.

"Are you breaking up with me?" he blurted out, sending my head whirling his way.

"What?! No, God no. Why would I do that?" I asked a bit shocked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. You were all happy earlier, but then you talked to Felix and now you're acting strange," he said, and I felt horrible that I'd caused him to doubt us.

"It wasn't bad, I promise."

"Then what did he say that has you acting so strangely?"

Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself and did my best to tell myself it was all going to be okay.

"Felix said you were in love with me," I said, so quietly I wasn't sure he heard me. Seconds went by without Edward saying anything, then a minute, and another after that. I couldn't even look at him. I was terrified of what I might see.

The car slowed down and Edward signaled as he pulled off the road and came to stop, putting the car in park. I heard him fidgeting around in his seat before he finally spoke.

"He's right," he said just as quietly as I had. "I'm unconditionally and irrevocably in love with you."

I let out a gasp as I turned to face him. I'd never honestly thought he'd say those words to me. Sure, I'd dreamed about it but hadn't honestly thought it would happen.

"I have been since I laid eyes on you. I just didn't know it at the time."

I was sure I looked like a fish out of water just gaping at him. He began picking at the hole in his jeans before he begged me to say something.

"I love you, too."

His eyes flew up to meet mine and he looked as equally stunned as I felt. Before I could even grasp what was happening, he'd unbuckled my seat belt and hauled me as close to him as he could. Warm, strong arms wrapped themselves around me, and his lips covered mine. So much was conveyed in that one kiss. Passion, lust, and love. It was perfect, sweet, hot, sexy, and left me wanting more. Slowly, Edward pulled away, nipping my bottom lip as he did, but I wasn't ready for him to stop. My fingers were buried in his gorgeous hair, and I dragged his lips back to mine.

I don't know how long we stayed lip-locked, but it wasn't until a passing car let out a honk and a dude hollered something that we parted. We were both breathing heavily and Edward's hair was a glorious, sexy mess.

"Guess we should get you home, huh?" he said, his voice a bit hoarse and his lips swollen. I was sure mine looked the same.

"Probably. Want to come over and make out some more?" I asked with a silly grin.

"As long as your dad isn't home. I don't want to be shot."

Once at my house, we plopped down on my couch, and turned the TV on low. However, we were too busy discussing our newly expressed love to pay attention to the show.

"I love you, Bella Swan. I really do," he said. "I never would have thought I'd fall in love at seventeen, yet I have."

Angling myself on the couch to better face him, I asked, "Didn't you love Tanya at all?"

"I thought I did, but I was wrong. I've never felt anything before like this. What we have, it's special. I think about you all the time, I can't wait to see you, and I have one hell of a time keeping my hands off of you."

A shiver of pleasure washed over me at his words. I knew exactly how he felt though. It was the same for me. He'd been on my mind since the day I met him and I told him so.

"Despite the fact that you were arrogant jerk, I knew I could easily fall for you and I have," I told him.

Of course our talking eventually led to making out for a couple of hours until the sound of the cruiser in the drive cooled us off. We moved away from each other, but I could tell Charlie wasn't fooled for a minute.

"Hey, kids. What are you up to?"

"Uh, just watching TV," I said.

"Uh huh. You do remember I'm a cop, right?" he asked as we both nodded. "Look, you guys are seventeen. You're practically adults and you're dating. I figure you're probably kissing and stuff but please take things slow and when you're relationship does progress just be safe."

I was dying. Absolutely mortified. A quick glance at Edward showed he was just as embarrassed. Charlie, on the other hand, was as cool as a cucumber.

"So, Edward? Are you staying for dinner?" Charlie asked as if he hadn't just embarrassed the hell out of us.

"Uh … yeah, I guess. If it's okay with you," he said, looking at me. I nodded. It was perfectly fine with me and obviously fine with Charlie.

After dinner, Edward and I did homework while Charlie watched a game on the TV and eventually Edward excused himself to use the bathroom. Minutes later, Edward came back out with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Where did you get this?" he asked, holding up the heart pendant. I'd forgotten I'd left it sitting on the counter in the bathroom. I'd been meaning to show it to Charlie. Guess, now was a good time.

"I found it stuck between some of the boards on the porch when I was cleaning it after the storm," I explained.

"But—but this is Tanya's," he said, confusion on his face.

"Yeah, I know. It took me a while to figure out why it looked familiar then I realized it was hers."

"But why would it be here?" Edward asked, sitting down on the couch.

But, it was Charlie that answered. "The only way it would be here was if she was here at some point and as far as I know, she's never been invited over. Correct?"

I nodded.

"I suppose it's possible the wind from the storm flew it over here, but I think the possibility of her being here uninvited is more likely. Looks like I'll be having a talk with Tanya and her parents," Charlie said with a sigh and holding out his hand for the charm. Edward handed it over, and I could tell he was shocked by the idea that Tanya would break into our house.

"I just can't see her breaking and entering," he told us. "I know she's a witch, believe me, I know. But, this seems too out of character for her."

"Be that as it may, I still need to talk to her. Do you know if she knows James Tracker?" Charlie asked, his fingers tugging on his mustache.

"James? Sure, we all know James," Edward said.

"Yeah, small town. I know. But is she friends with him?" Charlie asked.

Edward frowned as he thought about it. "Not that I'm aware of. I know Victoria dated him at one point last year before her parents made her breakup with him."

I looked at him in surprise. I hadn't known that. Why in the hell anyone would want to date someone as skeezy as James was beyond me, but then again, this was Victoria we were talking about.

A little after nine, I walked Edward out to his car, giving him a hug and a kiss goodnight. I stayed on the walkway and watched as he drove off into the night, my arms wrapped around my middle. I was in love and it was amazing.

"There's something different about you," Charlie commented after I'd made my way back inside and was sitting on the couch.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You're glowing," he said, "and you can't keep that grin off your face. I know you're not pregnant, so what's up."

I'd never been able to lie to Charlie and it was rare that I didn't tell him what was going on with me. However, I was nervous to tell him that Edward and I were in love. I was sure he was going to tell me we were too young and it was too fast. Both of which were true, but I couldn't help the way I felt.

"Edward loves me and I love him," I told him, almost defiantly as if daring him to argue with me.

"As long as you're not planning on running off or doing anything stupid, I've got no problem with that."

My jaw dropped open. I'd seriously been expecting an argument.

"What?" Charlie asked with a laugh. "I met your mother when we were sixteen and knew I was in love with her the minute I laid eyes on her."

I'd known that Charlie and Renee had been high school sweethearts, but I hadn't realized it had been love at first sight for my dad. He didn't strike me as the romantic type.

"Are you still in love with her?" I asked softly.

"You never forget your first love," Charlie said quietly. "But, the Renee I loved is gone. We both changed as we got older, but I was so busy with school, work, and you that I didn't pay attention to the fact that we drifting apart."

I'd been so caught up in my own life that I hadn't realized they were drifting apart either. That was probably why I was so surprised when they announced their divorce. I rarely ever heard or saw them argue, so I figured they were still in love.

"But, I've also seen high school sweethearts stay together forever. My parents for one. They met when they were fifteen and were together until they passed away. Will you and Edward make it? I certainly hope so. Boy has been crazy about you for a while now."

Gee, apparently everyone had known Edward was in love with me, but me. Giving Charlie a hug and being relieved I hadn't been lectured, I said goodnight and headed to bed. Laying in bed, I checked my phone, smiling when I saw a text from Edward.

_Sweet dreams, sweet girl. I love you._

Good lord, I was a puddle of goo. The boy was so damned sweet and so freaking easy to love. Smiling, I responded and told him I loved him too. Now that the I love yous were out there, I felt like I could take on the world and anyone who dared to come after Edward was going to pay.

* * *

"God dammit!" Edward scowled as he opened his locker a week later. There on the bottom of his locker were several pieces of paper. We thought we'd handled the problem by taping cardboard up behind the slits in his locker door so the letters couldn't be put in there. So how the hell had they gotten in there?

Edward handed me the letters to throw away as he grabbed his books and as he was shoving his history book into his bag, another note slipped out. We shared a look as he picked it up. Sure enough, it was written by the same person who'd written the others. The fact that the letter was tucked away in a book that had been locked in his locker was more than worrying. In fact, it was almost terrifying. This person had managed to gain access to Edward's locker.

"I think you need to talk to the principal and get a new lock," I told him with a frown. "This has been going on for a week and I'm more than a little pissed that someone was able to break into your locker."

He agreed and told me he'd see me later, and I watched as he made his way toward the school office. With a worried sigh, I rushed to English class and took my seat. Quietly, I told Felix what had happened and he was furious and just as worried as me.

"We should ask the janitor if someone asked to have Edward's locker opened," he said as we left class. I hadn't even thought of that.

When I finally caught up to Edward in history, he looked stressed and angry. He told me that he'd talked to the principal, but since he didn't know who was stalking him, the principal couldn't do much but give him a new lock for his locker. It was better than nothing or so we thought. We were wrong.

Later that week, we found more graphic letters in his locker that were accompanied by pictures of various body parts. Furious, Edward demanded a new locker all together and his parents came down and read the principal the riot act. They were beyond mad that nothing was being done to stop this person. But it seemed no matter what locker Edward moved to, whether a new one or not, this person was able to get into it.

Finally, we decided Edward would just share my locker. Needless to say I shouldn't have been surprised when I opened my locker one morning and found red paint on all of my books and notebooks. None of Edward's stuff had been damaged, but most of my stuff was ruined. That's when Charlie got involved. Charlie decided there most be a mole in the office. I'd looked at him like he was crazy when he'd suggested that. This wasn't a teen crime show. Then he'd pointed out that the office had students who helped out during their free periods. He also pointed out that the locker combinations were kept in the office.

"Good job, Sherlock," I told him.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm buying you a locker from the store and the school won't be getting the combination."

I didn't know why any of us hadn't thought of that. After I got a new lock as did Edward, the notes stopped allowing all of us to let out a sigh of relief. Of course, now we might never know who was sending them, but Charlie said he was on it. I had no doubt my dad would find the culprit. He was good at that.

He'd also had a nice little chat with Tanya and her parents. It had taken a while since they had put up quite a fuss about Charlie talking to her. She was still slaving away at her community service, and she was a bit subdued at school. She never even looked at me anymore or made nasty comments. Perhaps she had learned not to mess with the Swans. At least for her sake I hope she had.

Charlie told me as well as the Cullens that Tanya had vehemently denied being at our house and had told Charlie she'd tossed the charm on the ground after Edward had broken up with her the first time. She'd been pissed and she'd ripped it off and tossed it near the dumpster at The Flamingo.

"I've got to tell you I believe her. She also informed me she wouldn't lower herself to hang out with a 'scumbag' like James."

I believed that. Tanya thought a lot of herself.

"She did confirm what Edward told me about James and Victoria dating. I'll be talking to Victoria next."

I let out a snort and wished Charlie luck with that. Victoria was extremely unpleasant and it had only gotten worse since Tanya had backed down as the Queen of Terror. Maybe impending parenthood was changing Tanya and for the better. One could always hope.

After a week of locker stalker problems, I was ready for a relaxing weekend as was Edward. We spent the entire weekend hanging out. Sometimes it was just us, curled up on the couch in his room watching movies or listening to music; sometimes it was the whole group chilling. Either way, it was what we both needed.

* * *

**a/n: Okay, so this chapter got away from me. The ILUs wasn't something I was planning on right now, but my characters had other ideas and hey, who am I to argue with them. **


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Thanks for the reviews last chapter, folks! I have all kinds of excuses for not posting on Friday, although I'm sure they're all lame. I will say that I'm super tired and running on about an hour of sleep so any and all mistakes are my own.

* * *

It had been a blissful two weeks. No crazy stalker, the stares and talk about Edward and I had died down, and Edward and I spent as much time together as possible. I should have known that things wouldn't remain perfect. I guess it was the lull before the storm.

We were heading to Edward's car after school when I noticed a piece of paper tucked under his windshield wiper. I knew before I even opened it that it was another creepy note. Edward was beyond furious. After all, we thought we'd gotten rid of the stalker after we'd changed our locks on our lockers. Apparently, we were wrong.

I scanned the contents of the letter, huffing in disgust before shoving it into my backpack. Edward didn't need to read about all the vile things this crazy person wanted to do to him. Besides, Charlie had asked that we give all the notes to him if Edward received anymore.

I'd asked my dad if he would be able to get fingerprints off the notes, and he'd informed me there wasn't a CSI: Wild Turkey and it wouldn't be worth the money it would cost to send them off since no major crime was being committed. I'd begged to differ. Those vile thoughts were a crime against humanity. Charlie had also had a talk with Victoria regarding James and she'd been less than helpful. I hadn't been surprised to learn that. She was a less than helpful person and a vile one at that.

"I really want to know who the fuck is sending these notes!" Edward growled as we made our way across the bridge toward Wild Turkey.

"Me, too," I told him, and I did. Once we found out who it was, I was going to give them a talking to, and I knew I wouldn't be alone in doing so. I had many ideas as to who it could be but no evidence to prove any of them were guilty.

"If this person wants me so fucking much, can't they tell that their letters disgust me?"

I shrugged. "Perhaps they're delusional in thinking you like these kind of things."

Edward let out a shudder. We'd discussed the contents of the notes quite a bit over the past two weeks, and none of the crude suggestions had any appeal to either of us. Somehow we'd then ended up discussing what did appeal to us, and I was red in the face the whole time. Sure, I'd had a boyfriend before but all we'd done was kiss. I wasn't sure I was ready for more than that with Edward at this point, and he was perfectly fine with that. He'd told me that when it was time for us to move forward, we'd make that decision together. I had to admit the whole conversation had left me hot and bothered.

"Do you mind stopping at the station so I can give the note to Charlie?" I asked once we were in town.

"No problem."

Minutes later, Edward and I were walking into the station and were greeted by Emily.

"Oh, honey, you just missed your daddy. He got called out to a robbery up the road," she informed me. I did my best to hide my fear her words had caused. Years ago when I was in elementary school, Charlie had gotten called out to a gas station hold up. He'd been shot in the arm and since then, I'd been terrified whenever he had to deal with something super dangerous. I knew that Wild Turkey was pretty laid back and had a lot less violence than Seattle, but it didn't stop my fear that Charlie would get hurt.

"Is it okay if I go into his office? I need to leave something for him," I asked, trying to keep my voice from trembling.

"Sure thang, honey. Go right on in."

Edward followed me as I made my way down the hall to Charlie's office. Opening the door, I grinned as I stepped inside. It was so Charlie. There were fish mounted on the walls, pictures of me on his desk, and several old copies of _Fish and Stream_ magazine on a chair in the corner. Files and papers littered his desk, and I saw James' and Victoria's names on them. As tempting as it would be to snoop, I'd learned that Charlie always knew when his stuff had been rifled through.

Taking a seat behind his desk, I took out the note and put it on his desk before jotting on a sticky that the note had been found on Edward's car. Done with that, we headed back out to the main area and said goodbye to Emily after asking her to have Charlie call me when he got back.

"You got awfully quiet back there. Are you alright?" Edward asked once we were back in his car.

"Yeah. Sometimes, I hate Charlie's job. I'm scared that one day someone's going to go bat shit crazy and kill him or severely injure him."

Edward nodded his head in understanding. "I get that. I'd be worried too. Just remember that Wild Turkey is a much safer place than Seattle. Our crime rate is pretty low."

I knew that, but it didn't stop me from being worried. The whole time we were at my house, my mind was on Charlie. It wasn't until he called and reassured me he was fine that the tension left me.

"Thanks for getting this note to me. Not much I can do with it at the moment, but I'm still working on finding out who's harassing Edward," Charlie told me.

Edward stayed with me until Charlie got home and then I walked him out to his car. Edward wrapped me up in a hug and I apologized for being so distant that afternoon, but Edward shook his head and told me not to apologize. A few chaste and not so chaste kisses later, he walked around to the driver's side door and began to climb in.

"What the –?"

"Edward? What's wrong?"

"Get your dad, please," he said through gritted teeth. Immediately, I ran inside and told Charlie that Edward needed him.

Charlie rushed out of the house with me at his heels and we came to a stop beside Edward's car. There carved into the driver's side door was the word _mine_. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to carve the word in there, and to do it in the driveway of the chief of police was incredibly bold.

"Don't touch a thing," Charlie said as he ran back into the house and came back minutes later with his cell phone in one hand and a camera in the other. I could only assume he was talking to Sam or one of the other deputies before he began to take pictures of the car door. Edward was seething and I didn't blame him. He'd just gotten his car back not too long ago after the damage it had taken from the storm.

"Alright, son, let me drive you home. I'm gonna need to keep your car for until Sam can get out here in the morning. Bells can drive you to school in the morning if you need a ride."

The ride over to the Cullen house was quiet, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I was beyond mad that things were so messed up. Could Edward and I not catch a freaking break? It sure as hell seemed as if the world was conspiring against us. I just wanted to be with him without any drama hanging over our heads and there'd been nothing but drama. I was sick and tired of it, and I knew Edward was as well. I had a feeling our friends and family were just as frustrated as we were.

* * *

A week had passed since Edward's car had been keyed and in that week all had been quiet, and I was worried. I had a feeling something really, really bad was about to happen, and it scared the hell out of me. Edward had been feeling a bit off as well. We were both just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

We were at Edward's house, lying on the couch watching some crappy movie that was on TV. I wasn't paying much attention to it, mainly because Edward's hand was rubbing up and down my side and causing all kinds of wonderful feelings.

"Bella?"

"Hmm?"

Edward let out a laugh and pulled me closer. "I've been talking to you for the past few minutes. Guess, you didn't hear me."

Rolling over, I tossed one leg over his and cuddled closer. "Sorry, I was distracted."

"By this awful movie?"

I shook my head, inhaling his wonderful scent as I buried my face against his chest. "No, by you."

"Well, that's okay then," he said, leaning down and pressing a kiss to my forehead, cheek, and eventually my lips. Our kiss started off slow and sweet but quickly turned into fire. Tongues tangled, hands wandered, and our hips were far closer than they'd been before and I could feel him pressed against me. That was when I put the brakes on. I wasn't ready for us to explore that part of our relationship just yet and thankfully, Edward understood that. Plus, Emmett came home a few minutes later, so it was a good thing we'd stopped when we had. I could only imagine the ribbing he would have given us. As it was, he could tell we'd been up to something. Edward's hair was a mess as was mine, and Emmett was quick to point it out.

"You staying for dinner, B? 'Cause Mama is making ribs and potato salad."

Like I was going to say no to that. After getting Charlie's okay, Esme put all of us to work. She said we could help since we were going to be eating it. I was fine with that. Dinner was delicious and well worth the effort, and left me feeling a bit sleepy. At some point, I passed out on the couch with Edward beside me only to wake up around nine feeling like crap. My throat was sore and my head hurt horribly.

"You don't look so good," Edward commented, leaning down to place a hand on my head. "Jesus, Bella! You're burning up!"

I shook my head. I refused to get sick. "I'm fine," I croaked, denying what was obvious.

Edward shook his head and called Carlisle into the room. My temperature was taken and I was told to drink fluids and get plenty of rest. I was given hugs and get better wishes before Edward began to drive me home. Halfway to my house, I made him pull over. There was no way I was puking in Carlisle's Mercedes. Fumbling, I unhooked my seat belt and yanked the door open. There was no way in hell I wanted Edward to see me sick. I got out of the car and stumbled a bit before everything came up. A warm hand put itself on the back of my neck and pulled my hair away from my face. Embarrassment knew no boundaries.

I tried to push Edward away, but he wasn't having it. He stayed with me while I was sick, handed me tissues to clean up, and gave me gum. The ride home had never seemed so long. Thankfully, I didn't get sick again until we pulled into my drive. By then, Edward had called Charlie to let him know and Charlie greeted me with a bucket.

"Thanks, Dad," I muttered, completely mortified.

"I'd rather not have vomit stuck to the rugs," he said with a grin, although his concern for me was evident in his eyes. I grabbed the bucket from him and slowly began the trek inside the house. It seemed to take forever. Finally, I managed to make it to my room with Charlie and Edward trailing behind me, talking quietly. I heard Edward tell Charlie what Carlisle had recommended and Charlie gave Edward a nod and told him this wasn't his first rodeo.

"I've seen that girl as sick as a dog more than once. We'll be fine, but I'll give Carlisle a call if I need to," Charlie promised.

They both gave me time to change into my pajamas before Edward came into my room to say goodbye. He helped me climb into bed and tucked me in before pressing a kiss to my forehead, wincing at the heat he felt radiating from it.

"Feel better my sweet girl," he whispered in my ear.

All I could do was nod. I hated being sick more than anything and after Edward left, I curled up in a ball on my bed, cocooned in my covers. I vaguely remembered Charlie coming to check on me and force some water down my throat, but for the most part, I slept. I woke up around three in the morning and felt like garbage. I managed to make it to the bathroom and by the time I was done, I didn't have the energy to move. I considered curling up and sleeping on the bathroom mat. Thankfully, Charlie had heard me get up and helped me back to bed.

The next two days were spent in my bed or on the couch. I watched everything from court dramas to soap operas to daytime talk shows. I was fairly certain I'd lost several brain cells due to my TV watching. At least Edward would come over to visit me when he got done with school, and I was afraid he'd get sick next, but he swore he had a strong immune system and he'd be fine.

In the meantime, while I was laid up in bed, Charlie had gotten word that James had been bragging to some friends that his girl had keyed a car in the chief's driveway. Immediately, James was hunted down and taken in for questioning. Charlie, however, ended up extremely frustrated. Apparently, James refused to name who his girl was, but Charlie had told me he had an idea. I was dying to know, but he wouldn't tell me. He wanted to make sure he had all the facts first. I guess I could understand that.

By the time I was better and back to school, Christmas break was almost upon us. It was going to be weird spending Christmas without Renee, but Edward told me that we were invited to his house for Christmas. And let's face it. Esme was a far better mom than Renee. I still hadn't heard back from her, although I had gotten an email from Phil a few weeks earlier. He'd told me they were married and doing well. I hadn't bothered to respond. I figured Renee's actions spoke louder than her words and she obviously had nothing to say to me. Charlie had asked me if I wanted to visit Renee for Christmas and I'd told him no. I knew when I wasn't wanted.

"Ready for finals?" Jasper asked me as we walked down the halls toward our separate classes.

"No," I told him, and I wasn't. Being sick and catching up on homework had eaten up most of my study time and I knew if I wanted to get some decent grades, I was going to have to limit my Edward time and study my ass off.

Edward understood and was in the same boat as me. He'd slacked off so much with the whole Tanya pregnancy fiasco that he was working twice as hard to get his grades back up where they used to be. So that was how we found ourselves studying together for our biology exam. Although, we quickly learned how difficult it was to be in the same room together and not kiss or get distracted. Of course once Charlie came home, it made it a bit easier to focus on our studies. Eventually, all of our studying paid off. Or at least I hoped it had. My finals didn't seem quite as hard as I thought they would be, and then we were out for two weeks.

* * *

"Come on, Dad! Let's go. I don't want to be late!" I hollered from the porch. We were all set to spend the day at the Cullen house for an early Christmas celebration and Charlie was taking his sweet time getting ready. I didn't know what was taking him so long, but it was annoying me. I wanted to see Edward. He and his family had gone out of town for a few days, and I'd been going through Edward withdrawal.

"Hold your horses, Bells. I'll be ready in a minute!"

Several minutes later, Charlie was finally ready and he got into his SUV and headed toward the Cullen House. We were greeted at the door by an overly enthusiastic Emmett wearing antlers on his head and the ugliest Christmas sweater I'd ever seen.

"About time," he said, yanking me through the door and pulling me into a hug. I hugged him back, rolling my eyes at Charlie, before demanding to be put down. Good thing Charlie was the one carrying the pies and not me. They would've been squashed.

Esme had once again outdone herself. We dined on ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, salad, and last but not least, pies and cookies. By the time we all headed into the living room where their ginormous tree was set up, we were beyond full. I flopped down on the floor next to Edward, using him as a pillow as we listened to Carlisle read a Christmas story. I remembered Charlie doing that when I was little. Once Carlisle was done with the story, we sang Christmas carols loudly and badly before setting into watch _A Christmas Story._

Once the movie was over, Charlie and I said our goodbyes but not before gifts were exchanged. The Cullens were going to be heading to Brazil for the remainder of the holiday and I was beyond jealous. How cool would it be to spend Christmas on a private island?

Edward and I took our time saying goodbye, and I clung to him before finally letting go. I wasn't ready to be without him for a week, but I'd survive.

"I'll send you an email as soon as we get in," he promised, pressing his lips to mine. I eagerly returned his kiss, aware that we weren't alone and anyone of his family or Charlie could walk in on us.

"Have a safe trip," I told him with one last hug and kiss.

"We will."

I was quiet in the car ride back to our house and Charlie seemed to understand. "They'll be back before you know it, kiddo."

I nodded, knowing he was right, but that didn't mean that I wouldn't miss Edward and our first Christmas together.

Christmas morning I woke up to the sun shining and the weatherman on the radio telling me it was going to be in the upper sixties. It was strange spending Christmas in such warm climate. I got out of bed and headed to the living room still in my pajamas. Charlie had bought a fake Christmas tree and set up in the living room. The poor thing leaned a bit to the side and was quite pathetic, but it was better than nothing.

"Morning, Bells," Charlie said from his recliner where he was drinking a cup of coffee and reading a paper. _A Christmas Story_ was playing on the TV with the sound down low, and I knew it would play until late in the evening. It was tradition.

"Breakfast, then presents or presents then breakfast?" Charlie asked.

I shrugged. "Either or."

It was just the two of us so it wasn't like there were a ton of presents under the tree, and it wasn't like we didn't have all day. Christmas just wasn't the same as it was when you were little. Heading into the kitchen, I began making pancakes for Charlie and myself, and after we ate our breakfast we headed back to the living room.

"Sorry, it's not much, Bells," Charlie said, handing me four crudely wrapped presents.

"It's fine, Dad," I told him, handing him the two presents I'd gotten him. I didn't exactly have a ton of cash, so my presents to Charlie were fairly simple, but I was sure he'd like them. I was right. I'd gotten him a new tackle box with some bobbers and a book with different grilling recipes. I'd really wanted to get him a new fishing rod, but the one he desperately wanted was super expensive. Like hundreds of dollars expensive.

"Thanks, Bells! I'm always looking for some new recipes. Now open yours."

The first present he put on my lap was sort of heavy and I let out a gasp when I unwrapped and saw a brand new laptop.

"Dad! This is too much!" I protested, although I was beyond thrilled.

Charlie shook his head. "You're old one is barely functional and you can take this one with you when you go off to college in a couple of years."

Setting the green laptop beside me, I jumped up and wrapped Charlie up in a hug. I certainly hadn't been expecting such an expensive gift. The rest of my gifts were just as equally awesome. Charlie had also gotten me a pair of new Chucks in dark green, an Amazon gift card, and an iTunes gift card.

Esme and Carlisle had also gotten me an Amazon gift card while Jasper and Emmett had gotten me a new stereo for my car. I was beyond surprised and a bit upset they'd spent so much money. I'd definitely be having a talk with them when they got back. However, it was Edward's gift that almost brought me to tears. He'd gotten me a beautiful silver necklace that had a heart with an emerald in the middle. It was beyond beautiful and then I noticed a note tucked in the box.

_My sweet girl,_

_I'm sorry that we're apart on our first Christmas but remember you're always in my heart. I love you._

_~Edward_

The boy was too fucking sweet. I took the necklace out and put it on, loving the way it looked. Charlie let out a whistle when he saw it.

"That's a pretty necklace. Edward?"

I nodded. I'd never had a boy buy me jewelry before, and it wasn't something I was expecting. I just hoped Edward had spent a ton on it. He knew how I felt about that. I grabbed my phone to text him before I remembered he was in Brazil. So with Charlie's help we got my new laptop up and running, and I checked my email, pleased to see an email from Edward. He let me know they'd arrived safely and if I wanted to Skype to let him know. Immediately, I got Skype set up and sent Edward an email letting him know I was available to Skype whenever he wanted.

I didn't have to wait long. Within seconds, I got an alert on Skype telling me Edward wanted to talk. Hell yes. Not really wanting to talk in front of Charlie, I took my laptop into my room, and I clicked on the button and let out a sigh when Edward's beautiful face filled my screen.

"Hey, beautiful," he said with a smile.

"Hey, yourself," I said with a smile. Boy, I missed him something fierce and I told him so.

We spent an hour talking about anything and everything from our gifts to his flight to plans for New Years.

"So my present was okay?" he asked.

"It's perfect and beautiful, and I love it. Thank you so much!" I gushed. He let out a sigh as if he'd been worried I wouldn't like it.

"I honestly expected you to throw a fuss," he admitted after I asked him if he was worried about me not liking it.

"Why?"

"I figured you'd think I spent too much on you."

I assured him I was fine with it, although I did admit I worried a bit about it at first, but I quickly got over it. When I told him, I'd never had a guy by me jewelry before, he looked quite smug.

Eventually, he had to go. He was off to have dinner with his grandparents and he told me he loved me and he'd talk to me later. My Christmas had become a whole lot brighter after I'd seen Edward's face.

* * *

Edward and his family were due back from Brazil on the 28th of December, and I was more than anxious. Sure, we'd Skyped almost everyday but it wasn't the same as seeing him in person. I paced around our house so much as I waited for the call from Edward that they were back that Charlie threatened to sit on me or duck tape me to a chair.

"Relax, Bells. He'll call when he can."

Huffing, I flopped down on the couch and turned the TV on, randomly flipping through the channels. As I was busy trying to immerse myself in some nature show the doorbell rang, and Charlie got up to answer it.

"And here I thought you'd be pining away for me and instead I find you watching TV," a familiar, warm voice said in my ear.

"Edward!" I hollered, climbing over the couch to get to him. Charlie mumbled something and left the room as I threw myself into Edward's arms.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were going to call me?" I asked as I peppered kisses on his face.

He let out a laugh before placing a kiss on my lips. "I thought I'd surprise you instead. I know you're not a big fan of surprises, but I figured you wouldn't mind this one."

"Not at all," I told him, bringing his lips back to mine.

We quickly got lost in our kisses and the joy of being together again and it was only Charlie's throat clearing that tore us apart.

"Have a good Christmas, son?" Charlie asked.

Edward nodded before telling us all about his trip and showing us pictures on his camera. It looked like he'd had a fantastic time and I was a bit jealous.

"So, Brazil next year, Dad?"

Charlie let out a snort. "Sure, kid. I'll get right on it." Eh, it was worth a shot.

"Oh, I got something for you," Edward told me before dashing outside to the car. Minutes later, he was back and handed me a small velvet bag. I eyes curiously before giving Edward a glare.

"You already gave me my Christmas present."

"I know. This is a wish-you'd-been-there present," he said with a cheeky grin.

Rolling my eyes, I opened the small bag and pulled out a small wooden panther. It was beautiful. The wood was a dark brown and the eyes of the panther were bright green. I loved it.

"Thank you," I said quietly as I ran my fingers over it.

"You're welcome," he replied before leaning in for a quick kiss, mindful of the fact that Charlie was standing nearby.

Edward hung out for a while before having to leave and head home. I was glad he was back and he told me we'd get together tomorrow to discuss our plans for New Years. I knew Charlie wouldn't approve of any big parties and that wasn't really my thing anyway. I was sort of hoping we could all just hang out at the Cullen house or here and have our own little party. I was fairly certain Charlie would approve of that. I knew for a fact he wouldn't want any of us out on the roads.

"Love you," Edward said, after I'd walked him out the door and to his car.

"Love you, too," I told him as he drove off.

Later that night, I laid in bed holding the panther in my hands. I'd really lucked out in the boyfriend department, and I wasn't thinking that because of the gifts I'd received. Edward was an amazingly wonderful person and he was mine. Something I still had trouble comprehending on occasion. But as I drifted off to sleep, I couldn't help but wonder what the future held for us.

* * *

a/n: Okay folks, lay it on me. Also, what was the best gift a boyfriend/girlfriend gave you for Christmas? Years ago the hubby got me British versions of the Harry Potter books. Best. Gift. Ever. Which shows just how much of a nerd I am.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Happy Friday! Hope everyone had a good week. So this chapter is coming with an angst warning. One of these characters is going to piss you off and chances are extremely high, I'm going to piss you off as a result of that. Have faith. There is a method to my madness.**

***Shameless plug* I also have a new story started entitled _The Hunted_. Go check it out!**

* * *

Early New Year's Eve day, Alice called me to let me know she was going to be having a party at her house to ring in the new year. I was a bit surprised because I'd thought the plan was to have the party here at my house, but Alice had decided it would be easier to have the party at hers. So, after Charlie agreed, I told her I'd be there.

A little before five, Edward and I said goodbye to Charlie after promising to not drink and to stay off the roads. I knew Charlie was worried, but he trusted us to follow his rules. Besides, drinking wasn't my thing. Fifteen minutes later, we were pulling into Alice's driveway and we headed inside. Jasper, Emmett, and Rose were already there and Felix was on his way, bringing Marcus with him. I was super excited to meet Marcus especially after all we'd heard about him.

"Yay! You're here! We're going to have so much fun tonight!" Alice squealed, throwing her arms around me as if I hadn't seen her a few days earlier. I returned her hug before making my way into the living room.

Roughly an hour later, Felix showed up and introduced to Marcus, and I took an immediate dislike to him. I wasn't so sure about the others. Marcus came across as arrogant and holier than thou, and he kept demanding Felix to get him this or get him that and it took everything in me not to tell Marcus to back off. Felix and I would be having a definite talk later. I knew he loved the guy, but I sure as hell didn't. From what I'd heard about Marcus from Felix, I was expecting some sweet, gentle, loving boy. Not this demanding jerk.

Several hours into our little party, the pizza had arrived and the sodas were flowing, but all of that was about to change. I hadn't realized Alice's parents weren't going to be there and if Charlie had known that, I could almost guarantee he wouldn't have let me come. The doorbell rang interrupting our card game, and Alice went to answer it coming back with five kids from school who were carrying a cooler. A few minutes after that, more kids showed up. Casting a nervous glance around the now crowded living room, I got up and asked Alice if I could speak to her for a moment.

"Sure, what's up?"

"I hadn't realized you'd invited all these people. I was under the impression it was just going to be the eight of us."

Alice let out a laugh. "Bells, it's New Years! I always throw a kick-ass New Year's party."

"You're folks are okay with this?"

She scoffed as she informed they didn't know since they always went to Mobile for New Year's. "I always have the place cleaned up by the time they get home."

I shifted nervously on my feet. I didn't want to come across as a Debbie Downer, but I wasn't entirely comfortable with the whole party situation. Alice waved off my fears, assured me everything was cool and told me to relax a bit. Easier said than done, especially once I walked back into the living room and saw kids sitting around with beers in their hands. Yeah, I was so not okay with this. I was a cop's daughter, and I'd been raised to respect the law. Sure, I jaywalked and sped once in a while, but underage drinking? Not happening, and I was a bit disappointed to see some of my friends partaking in the drinking.

"You okay?" Edward asked from behind me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Not really," I told him, turning around to face him, relieved to see his hands free of any alcohol.

"What's wrong?"

I gestured to the living room. "I wasn't expecting this. I thought we'd have a small get together and ring in the year with just the eight of us. Not too mention that there's alcohol. You do realize if Charlie finds out about this, my ass will be grounded for years, right?"

"It'll be okay, Bella. You don't have to drink, you can just hang out and chill," Edward told me, and I saw red. I couldn't believe how unaffected he was by all this, and then I figured he'd been to Alice's party last year.

Narrowing my eyes, I said, "You knew, didn't you? You knew she was going to have a huge party and you didn't warn me."

I could tell he wanted to roll his eyes at me, but he didn't. "Of course I knew. I was here last year and the year before. I figured if you found out about it being a huge party you wouldn't want to come and I wanted to spend New Year's with you."

Letting a huff and knowing if I didn't leave the room, I'd say something I regretted, I shot him a glare and stomped off toward Alice's room. Thankfully, no one was in there and I curled up in her overstuffed recliner and thought about things. Edward had lied to me by omission, and I was more than a bit upset. I thought we'd agreed to be honest about things but apparently I was wrong. Sure, maybe I was blowing things out of proportion a bit, but big parties and drinking weren't my thing and he knew it.

I don't know how long I sat there, but it was long enough for someone to come looking for me. There was a knock on the door before Rose opened and came into the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Why are you hiding up here?" she asked, taking a seat on the end of Alice's bed.

"Big parties aren't my thing," I told her and she nodded in understanding.

"Mine either. The only reason I'm here is because Emmett wanted to come and Alice had sworn it wouldn't get too crazy. Obviously, she lied about that. It's insane down there and if it gets any louder someone's going to call the cops."

_Terrific_. The last thing I needed was Charlie busting in on a party with underage drinking that I was at. That would look real good.

"I think maybe I'm just gonna leave," I told Rose, standing up and digging my keys out of my pocket. Edward had driven and I'd promised Charlie we wouldn't drive, so I guess I was going to end up walking home.

"You aren't planning on walking are you?" Rose asked.

"How else am I going to get home? Edward drove. I guess I could call Charlie to come get me and then he can bust the party in the process. I'm sure no one wants that," I told her.

"Well, I'm not letting you walk alone. I'll go with you. Emmett can come get me in the morning."

I felt bad that Rose was having to leave the party to walk me home, but at the same time, I was extremely grateful that I wasn't the only one who didn't want to be there. We headed downstairs and I saw that Rose had been right. The party was in full swing. The music was loud, the people were obnoxious, and there was alcohol everywhere I looked. I did a quick glance around the living room for Edward, but I didn't see him anywhere. However, I did spot Victoria there and I was a bit taken back. Why would Alice invite Icky Vicky to her party? Deciding it wasn't worth figuring out at the moment, I headed toward the kitchen where the side door was located. There was no way I was pushing my way through the living room to get to the front door.

As Rose and I made our way into the kitchen, I saw Edward standing in the corner talking to some guys from the football team.

"We're leaving," I told him, feeling the need to at least let him know. This whole stupid New Year's sucked. I'd really been hoping to get a New Year's kiss from Edward and I was sad that I wasn't going to.

"Leaving? Who's leaving?"

"We are," I said, pointing Rose and then myself. "This isn't our thing and I don't want to be here when Charlie gets called. We're just going to go to my house."

"Let me take you guys home," he said and I shook my head, reminding him that he'd told Charlie he'd stay off the roads. Grabbing my hands in his, Edward pulled me to the side, away from the guys and the noise.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Alice's crazy party. I just …," he trailed off, running his hands through his hair. "I just wanted us to have an awesome New Year's together and it's been anything but. It wasn't until you walked off that I realized how pissed you were and I figured I'd give you time to yourself before hunting you down. I really am sorry. Please let me walk you guys home and we'll just hang out at your place."

I looked into his eyes and saw how sincere he was. I could see the remorse so I nodded and agreed.

"So, who's gonna tell Alice we're leaving?" he asked, my hand tucked into his.

"Leaving? You can't leave!" Alice wailed from behind us, and I grimaced when I saw the red plastic cup in her hand. I knew it didn't contain water or lemonade.

"We are," Edward said.

Alice opened her mouth to argue, but Edward shook his head and told her to save her breath. "Make sure Jasper and Emmett stay here tonight. Better yet, I'll go get Em's keys."

Alice turned to face us as Edward headed back into the throng of drunk people. "Why are you doing this to me?"

I just stared at her. "I'm not doing anything to you. I just don't find hanging out with a bunch of drunk people fun. You know that."

She muttered something unintelligible and headed back into the living room, weaving a bit as she went. I let out a sigh, knowing that she was going to feel like crap the next day. Minutes later, Edward came back with both Jasper and Emmett. Emmett had a goofy grin on his face and a glazed look.

"Mind if he comes with? He's had a bit too much to drink," Edward explained.

"Fine, but I'm not carrying him if he falls," I said, watching as Rose let out a sigh at Emmett's drunken state.

Fifteen minutes later, the five of us were headed to my house. Marcus had wanted to stay so Felix had stayed behind even though I could tell he really didn't want to. Alice, on the other hand, had caused quite a scene when Jasper had told her he was coming with us. She'd been furious that he was leaving her on New Year's. He'd reminded her that she'd promised to keep the party small and not let it get out of control. Yelling had ensued as well as name calling on her part and I'm sure the fact that she'd been drinking hadn't helped. So now, we had a depressed and angry Jasper and a drunk Emmett to contend with on the walk home. Good thing, I didn't live super far away. Not that anything was super far away in Wild Turkey. About halfway home, I decided I should call Charlie and let him know I was heading home.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he picked up on the first ring.

"Nothing?"

"Bella," he growled.

With a sigh, I broke down and told him that Alice's party was too crowded and loud so and that the five of us had left and were walking home.

"I told you to stay off the roads, Bells. Just because it's not midnight yet, doesn't mean the drunks aren't out."

"Technically, we're on the sidewalks or the grass," I told him and I heard him let out a sigh. "Edward and Emmett left their cars at Alice's so that we wouldn't be driving on the roads with the drunks."

"Please be careful and call me as soon as you get home," Charlie said, and I promised we would.

Not too much later, we were walking up the porch of my house and gave Charlie a call letting him know we were safe and sound and promised that we wouldn't leave for the remainder of the night. Edward called his folks and let them know that he and his brothers were at my place. We spent our evening eating ice cream, playing card games, and watching movies. It wasn't so bad, especially once Emmett sobered up. He apologized profusely for getting drunk and admitting it was a stupid idea. After a slap to his head, Rose forgave him.

A little before midnight, Charlie called and told me he'd been called out to Alice's place. Thankfully, he didn't ask me if there was any underage drinking going on, so I wouldn't have to lie or say yes and feel guilty for ratting out my friend. After we hung up, I let the gang know that Charlie had been called out to Alice's.

Jasper winced. "She's going to be in so much trouble and not just from Charlie, but from her parents as well. She almost got busted last year, and she swore she'd just have a small party with us this year."

"Then why did she do it?" I asked, because the Alice I'd seen tonight wasn't the Alice I thought I knew.

"Popularity," Rose answered. "The bigger the party, the more popular she becomes."

"But, she's dating Jasper. Isn't she already popular?"

"Apparently, not popular enough," Jasper said with a scowl, but I could see the worry in his eyes. I could understand wanting to be popular and I guess throwing the most awesome party of the year would do it, but I couldn't see risking your future for a few moments of popularity. I just hoped that Alice didn't get in too much trouble and would understand why we left.

By the time the clock struck midnight, we were all pretty subdued. I got my kiss from Edward and Rose got hers from Emmett, but poor Jasper had no one to kiss at midnight and I felt horrible for him. Overall, it certainly wasn't one of the best New Year's Eves I'd had. I sure hadn't planned Edward omitting things, Alice throwing a crazy party, me getting mad at Edward, and Alice mad at all of us.

* * *

I had hoped that after a few days Alice would have calmed down and listened to us, but she hadn't. Charlie had busted her party and had ended up writing a bunch of tickets and calling parents to let them know their children were drinking. He'd been more than a little pissed and extremely disappointed in Alice. As for Alice, she'd been given a fine, community service, and had been grounded for life by her parents. Okay, maybe not life, but for the next three months she was only allowed to go to school and community service. No dates, no going out, no nothing. We could go and hang out at her house but only if her parents were there. Not that she had told any of us this. Charlie had. Even after four days of calling and leaving voice mails and apologizing for leaving, she'd refused to talk to us. Not even Jasper could get through to her.

Our first day back at school after break was horrible. Kids who'd been busted at the party by Charlie blamed me and were convinced that I'd snitched. Alice did nothing to dissuade their way of thinking and that made me angry. I hadn't ratted Alice out, but she sure acted like I had.

Even Felix was acting weird toward me. He sat behind me in class and when I turned around to hand him a paper that Mr. Masen was handing out, he'd refused to meet my gaze. After class, I stopped him and asked him what was going on.

"Nothing," he said quietly.

"Bullshit. Is this about the party? Because, I didn't rat anyone out despite what everyone might think."

"Forget it. I don't want to talk about it," he said, heading off in the opposite direction. With a sigh and a heavy heart, I made my way to math where Alice ignored me for the whole period.

"Alice still not talking?" Edward asked as I sat down next to him in history.

I shook my head. He reached over and gave my hand a squeeze before bringing to his lips and placing a soft kiss on it.

"She will. She's just embarrassed and upset."

I hoped he was right. She was my best friend, and I'd already lost one of those. I hated that she was mad at me even though I'd done nothing wrong. I was so upset I didn't even pay attention to Mr. Nak and failed to take any notes.

At lunch our little group got one hell of a surprise after we gathered around our lunch table. I figured Alice wouldn't sit with us, but I'd never expected her to sit with Victoria, Jane, and Lauren. Tanya seemed just as surprised as the rest of us and whatever she said to Victoria didn't go over well, and Tanya got up and left.

"Has she lost her freaking mind?" Rose growled out.

I was just as flabbergasted as the rest of them. Time after time, I'd heard Alice tell me all about her dislike of Tanya and Victoria and how they annoyed her to know end. Hell, I was in the same freaking boat, but now I was beginning to wonder if Alice hadn't lied to me. She sure looked awfully cozy with Icky Vicky and it made me feel sick. Surely Alice wasn't good friends with Victoria all this time, right?

Needless to say, the rest of lunch was spent in shocked silence and quiet mutterings. Jasper had no clue what was going on with Alice because she refused to talk to him.

"I don't even know if we're still dating. I suppose I should find out, huh?" he asked as we got up to throw our trash away.

Jasper walked ahead of us and asked Alice if he could speak with her. She gave him a glare and did her best to ignore him, but he wasn't having it. He blocked her path and demanded to know what was going on.

"She obviously doesn't want to talk to you, Cullen, so why don't you move on," Victoria sneered.

"Was I talking to you? Why don't you mind your own business, Victoria," he snarled back. With an eye roll, Victoria moved away but not far enough for my peace of mind.

"What's going on with us, Alice?" Jasper asked.

Her eyes flashed to his and I saw fear and pain in them before they became ice cold. "There is no us anymore," she said in a bored tone.

Jasper stared at her for a few minutes before giving a nod and walking away. I couldn't believe it. Just like that, they'd broken up. I knew Jasper had to be dying. He was so head over heels for Alice it was crazy, and I'd thought she'd loved him too. Guess I was wrong. I had to grip Edward's hand before he went over and said something to her and I saw Rose do the same to Emmett. However, as we walked past Alice, I heard Rose call her a stupid bitch and tell her she hoped she was happy now that she had no boyfriend or friends.

The rest of the day was miserable and Jasper was inconsolable. I was afraid he was in a state of shock and I was worried he was going to breakdown. On the way home, that's exactly what happened. He was riding with Edward and I and I could hear sniffles coming from the backseat and more than once I caught him wiping his cheeks. Whatever mild anger I'd felt toward Alice had grown tenfold. How the hell could she break Jasper's heart so callously?

We dropped Jasper off at their house before Edward drove me back to mine. I was a bit surprised to see Charlie's cruiser in the drive as we pulled in. Getting out, we made our way inside my house where I found Charlie on the phone. He held up a finger telling me to give him a minute and I nodded, taking Edward's hand and heading toward my room, leaving the door open.

We were talking quietly about everything that had happened at school, when Charlie knocked on the door.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him.

"You tell me. What's going on with Alice because I just got a phone call from Carmen, Alice's mom, and she's worried about Alice."

"I honestly don't know. She thinks I ratted her out to you, she broke up with Jasper, and now she's hanging out with Victoria. I'm as worried and confused as anybody else."

"What do you mean she's hanging out with Victoria?"

I shrugged before responding. "She was sitting with her at lunch and they seemed quite chummy. Alice has never had anything nice to say about Victoria so I don't why she's suddenly had a change of heart."

Charlie was frowning, clearly not pleased by this news. He muttered something about heading back to the station before shouting out a goodbye and letting me know he'd pick up dinner.

"That was weird," I commented and Edward agreed.

"Come here," he said, pulling me down next to him on my bed and I knew we were in slightly dangerous territory. I laid down next to him, resting my head on his chest as his arm wrapped around me.

"I know you're worried and upset with Alice as am I, but I've known her forever and she can be a bit stubborn. Once she calms down, I'm confident she'll come back and apologize. We just have to be patient and be there for her even though we're upset with her."

I nodded against his chest, hoping like hell he was right. Deciding we needed a distraction from the horrible day we'd had, I propped myself up on an elbow and lowered my lips to his. It was just what we needed as we got lost in our kisses. Slowly, we parted but only because we needed oxygen and then his lips found purchase on my neck. I let out a moan as I felt his teeth scraping gently against my skin, and I soon found myself underneath a very happy Edward.

Moans and breathy sighs filled the air as my legs tangled with his and our tongues swept each others. Things were definitely getting out of control and it was only the ringing of his phone that broke through our bubble.

"Jesus!" Edward said as he rolled off me and onto his back, his hair a crazy mess and his lips swollen. "I swear I didn't mean to get so carried away."

I ran a hand through my own hair and felt my own swollen lips. "It's fine. I got carried away too, although I'm confident we would have stopped before we didn't something we weren't ready for."

Edward didn't seem quite as confident about that as I did. Picking up his phone, he saw his mom had called and he quickly called her back. I couldn't hear what Esme said but whatever it was had Edward sitting up and telling her he'd be right home.

"What's wrong?" I asked once he'd hung up.

"Jasper put his fist through the wall of his room and he's destroying a bunch of stuff. Mom wants me to see if I can't calm him down."

After Edward left, I sat down on the couch with my laptop and opened my Facebook page. I was relieved to see Alice and I were still friends and I made the decision to send her a private message. I wrote and rewrote the message several times before sending it. In the message I told Alice the truth. That I hadn't told Charlie about the underage drinking and I didn't understand why she didn't believe me. I asked her why she was hanging out with Victoria and if she truly didn't love Jasper anymore. I hoped that I got some answers, but I wasn't holding my breath. It was as if she'd written me off completely. With a sigh, I shut down my laptop and turned on the TV hoping for some sort of a distraction.

Later that night after dinner, I sent Edward text asking how Jasper was. I got a sad smiley face in return. We texted for a bit before saying goodnight and I found that sleep didn't come easily. All my mind could focus on was how cozy Alice and Victoria had looked at lunch. I didn't want to believe that Alice was really friends with her but maybe she was. Maybe she always had been or maybe Victoria was somehow blackmailing Alice about something. Whatever the reasoning, it left me extremely unsettled and completely on guard. I feverishly hoped Alice would see the error of her ways and come back to us before it was too late.

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**a/n: Alright folks, lay it on me. Show of hands of how many of you would love to yell at me right now. I'm sure there's a few. Just remember I believe in Happy Ever After. I just like to make my characters work for it. See you all next Friday!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I've been roped in to visiting relatives in Ohio this weekend and can honestly say, I'm not looking forward to it at all. So, I'm posting this short outtake from Alice's POV and I'll post a regular chapter next week. Wish me luck riding in a car for a total of 16 hours this weekend with my mother and husband. I'm going to need it. **

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**(APOV)**

I sat in my room staring at the walls and thought about how my life was over and how completely miserable I was. Everything had been so perfect. I'd had Jasper and my friends, and I was well on my way to being more popular than ever. And just like that, it was all ripped away from me and I was the only one to blame. I felt a surge of guilt rush through me as I remembered how I'd let Bella take the blame for my New Year's Eve party being busted by Chief Swan. It hadn't been her fault at all. I'd let things get out of hand even after I'd promised Rose and Jasper that I'd keep the party simple. Jasper. God, just thinking his name made my heart ache. He'd been my everything and I'd pushed him away, broken his heart. But, I'd had to push them away or else Victoria would have spilled my dirty, little secret to everyone.

It had all started right before Christmas break when Victoria had seen me popping some pills behind the gymnasium. I'd thought I was being careful, but apparently I'd been wrong.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" she'd said with an almost gleeful tone because she knew she'd caught me doing something I shouldn't have been.

"Nothing," I'd told her, but she'd grabbed the small pill container out of my hand before I'd had time to hide it.

Opening it up, her eyes had gone wide. "Speed, Alice? Naughty, naughty. Whatever would Chief Swan and your parents think about this?"

That was when the blackmail had begun. She'd wanted information about Edward and Bella, and I'd given it to her, sick to stomach every time, but my need to keep my addiction a secret had been greater than my friends' trust in me. I had convinced myself that I had no choice but to help Victoria and whoever she was working with, because I knew she hadn't been going after Edward and Bella alone.

Then after my disastrous New Year's Eve party, Victoria had told me that Bella had called Chief Swan and I'd believed her. It didn't help that I'd been drinking nor did the fact that Edward, Rose, Emmett, and Jasper left with her. It had been easy for Victoria to convince me that they'd all known what was going to happen and had left me to take the fall on my own. I'd been an idiot and allowed myself to listen to her lies and had cut all ties with my friends and boyfriend.

It had been three weeks of loneliness and despair and it was all my doing. Jasper was gone and I was certain he'd never take me back. My friends were gone and had stopped trying to get in touch with me after I'd refused to answer their calls or emails. And in the end, Victoria had betrayed me. I wasn't sure why I was so surprised. She'd left an anonymous voicemail on our house phone telling my parents that I was addicted to speed. I'd come home from community service one afternoon to find my parents in the living room waiting for me, my pill box in my mom's hands.

"What is this?" Mom had asked me, holding out the pill box.

"You went through my stuff!" I'd shouted. "It doesn't matter what it is, just give it back to me!"

A loud, long, ugly screaming match had ensued and in the end, I'd broken down and admitted to my parents that I'd been taking speed for the past year. It had started last year during finals week when I'd had trouble staying awake long enough to study. I'd overheard some kids at school talking about popping pills to give them more energy. I'd asked one of the kids about it and they'd pointed me in James' direction. At first, I'd just used the pills to study but then it became an everyday occurrence and I had to have them. My parents had just thought I'd become a happier person and was more content while my friends had thought I'd just become peppier. I had, but not naturally.

Needless to say, I'd been hauled off to a daily treatment center in Mobile and to see a therapist. Once I'd started withdrawing from the pills, I'd become moodier and I'd snapped on everyone. Well, my parents and therapist mainly. It wasn't like I had any friends to snap at.

"I think you should talk to your friends and tell them the truth," my therapist suggested one afternoon during our session. How could I possibly do that? They weren't speaking to me, and I wasn't sure I was brave enough to face them and tell them about my addiction. I mulled over it for a few days before finally agreeing to give it a try. I was terrified and had a feeling it was only going to end badly.

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**a/n: While I know we don't all agree with Alice's decision this is a bit of an explanation as to why. This was always the way I planned things, although I hadn't planned on writing this outtake. We'll be back to Bella's POV next Friday.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Happy Friday, folks! I'd love to say I'm having a great one, but I'm not and it's all Gallifrey's fault. Gallifrey is my car and she's not playing nice. As in, she decided to stall on the interstate in a construction zone that was down to one lane. She started back up eventually, but stalled on me twice more. Stupid car. Grrr. Now, she's off to the shop where she's going to cost me a gabillion dollars. Anyway, here's hoping you're having a happier Friday than me. So, go forth and read!**

**P.S. We've got three chapters left.**

**P.S.S. All mistakes are my own.**

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I swore it had been the longest three and a half weeks of my life. I think I was still in shock about Alice's attitude change even after all these weeks. I'd watched as she'd hung out with Victoria for a while and then bam! Victoria had dropped her and Alice was alone. It hurt me to see her looking so sad and depressed, but there was a part of me that was so freaking angry with her that I felt she deserved what she got. However, no matter how mad I was at her, I couldn't write her off completely, and Edward swore she'd come back to us. I wasn't so sure about that. She'd had plenty of time, plus she hadn't returned any of our calls, texts, or emails. I'd stopped trying to get in contact with her about a week and a half ago. All of us had tried, except Jasper. He was so hurt and so betrayed that he refused to even mention her name. Hell, anytime one of us brought her up, he'd leave the room and my heart broke for him. Alice had devastated him, and I didn't see any way there relationship could be fixed.

So needless to say, I was a bit shocked to see Alice standing by my locker after gym on Tuesday. There was a part of me that wanted to ignore her just the way she had us, but I couldn't find it in myself to do that.

"I need to talk to you," she whispered, her gaze firmly planted on the ground.

"What if I don't want to talk to you?" I responded as I shoved books into my bag.

"Please," she begged, her voice choking up a bit. I looked down at her and noticed how unkempt she looked. Her normally styled hair was limp and dull and her clothes were baggy as if she'd lost weight. My friend was crying out for help. How could I deny her?

"Fine. Now?"

She shook her head. "Come to my house, please and bring the others. There's something you all need to hear."

"Alright," I agreed and she nodded her head in thanks before trudging down the hall. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like what she had to tell us. Slamming my locker shut, I headed toward Edward's locker and told him about Alice. He sent a text to the rest of the group and told them to meet at Alice's.

"What about Jas? Do you think he'll come?" I asked.

Edward nodded. "If I have to drag him there. I think he needs to hear what she has to say the most."

So a little over an hour later, we pulled up in front of Alice's house and began to walk up to the door. Jasper had a scowl on his face, his arms crossed over his chest, and I could tell he wanted to be anywhere but there. I couldn't say I blamed him. When Edward and I had stopped being friends, seeing him had killed me.

Rose reached the door first and rang the bell until Alice opened it. She stepped back to let us in and then we followed her into the living room where Alice's parents as well as an older woman sat. Edward and I shared confused looks but we kept quiet. After we were all seated, Alice began to nervously pace around the room, her hands wringing and her fingers fidgeting.

Finally, she began to speak. "I owe you all the biggest apology ever. I've been untruthful to all of you, and I've hurt you. This," she said, pointing to the older woman, "is my therapist, Judy Demitri. I've … uh, been going to see her for a while now. She's the one that encouraged me to talk to you all and explain what's been going on."

"What has been going on?" Rose asked, her tone a bit sharp and I knew we were all wondering the same thing.

Taking a deep breath, Alice spoke. "I started using speed last year to get through finals. Then, I found that I couldn't go without it. I needed it all the time, and James was more than willing to supply me with them. I was afraid to tell anyone and I didn't want you all to think I was a drug addict. Then right before Christmas, Victoria caught me popping a pill after class. She blackmailed, threatened to tell my parents if I didn't help her."

"Help her how?" I asked, staring at Alice as if I'd never seen her before. My mind was completely blown. Sweet, bubbly Alice was a speed user. I guess that explained her over bubbly behavior.

"She wanted information on Bella and Edward."

"And you gave it to her," Jasper stated, his voice as cold as ice as he glared at her.

Alice nodded, tears streaming down her face. "I didn't think she was going to do anything with it. I mean, I knew she had a crush on Edward, but I didn't think she'd go all crazy."

Jasper let out a scoff and shook his head as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Granted, I was in the same boat. I couldn't believe my best friend would give information about us to Victoria.

"Anyway, once she had what she wanted from me, she turned around and let my parents know about my drug use. I've been going to a withdrawal center and therapy since it happened," she said quietly, before sitting down and burying her face in her hands.

It was dead quiet after she finished speaking, and I was pretty sure I was in a state of shock. Looking at my friends and boyfriend, they were all in a similar state. What I didn't understand was why she pushed us away. We could've helped her.

"But why push us away?" I asked after a moment. "You could've told us what was going on. We would've helped you out. You know that."

She wiped the tears away from her cheeks with the back of her hands before finally meeting my gaze. "I was afraid you'd hate me, and I didn't want you to know my secret."

"Oh, Alice," I said with a moan at how misguided my friend was. She'd gotten herself into all kinds of trouble and was paying a high price. I got up and walked over to her before pulling her into a hug. She clung to me, sobbing and soon we were surrounded by our friends, except for Jasper. I looked over at him and he was sitting in his chair, his hands clasped as he stared at the ground and looked to be deep in thought. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to find out that the person you loved had been keeping major secrets; secrets that involved doing drugs and betraying your friends.

We slowly pulled apart and Alice's parents and therapist left the room, giving us time to talk without them. The five of us talked for hours about her addiction, about her lies and betrayal and about our feelings. Jasper never said a word, and I noticed Alice shooting glances at him before looking away.

By eight, we were exhausted. There had been swearing, tears, hugs, more swearing and lots and lots of talking. Knowing that I needed to get home and get some homework done, Edward and I each gave Alice a hug and told her we'd see her tomorrow. When Edward asked Jasper if he was coming with, he shook his head and told us he and Alice needed to have a long talk. I wanted to tell him to go easy on her, but I couldn't. She'd broken his heart and it was going to take time for it to mend.

"Do you think they'll ever be okay?" I asked Edward as we got into his car.

"I'd like to think so, but I also think it will take time. Kind of like with us."

I really hoped Jasper and Alice could work things out. They were wonderful together, but I knew it would take time for Jasper to trust Alice again. Hell, it was going to take time for me to trust her again. But, at least we knew who was behind the creepy notes. Well, I was pretty sure anyway. Especially, when Alice told us that Victoria wanted Edward.

As soon as Edward dropped me off, I did my homework and made a simple dinner. Charlie came home a few minutes before the pasta was done and I told him all about my crazy day. He wasn't surprised which surprised me.

"You mean you knew about Alice? Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, slightly put off that my own father was keeping things from me.

He raised an eyebrow at me before answering. "Because it wasn't my secret to tell."

I nodded. Fair enough. Then a horrible thought occurred to me. She had been doing drugs and carried drugs.

"Is she going to be arrested on a drug charge?"

Charlie shook his head. "She gave me James, so she's been given community service."

I let out a sigh of relief. I figured if she was going to be arrested for drugs, Charlie would have already done so, but I was relieved to hear that she wasn't going to be. In all the things we'd discussed tonight, we hadn't talked about that. Charlie also knew about Victoria's crush on Edward and her harassment of him, but since Charlie didn't have concrete proof, just hearsay, there wasn't much he could do.

"James is in lockup for the time being. His court date will be later in the week and we'll see where it goes from there."

"Has he admitted to breaking in here?"

Again, Charlie shook his head. "Nope. Boy hasn't said a word and probably won't. I think the only way we're going to be able to prove that is if Victoria turns on him."

I thought about how quickly Victoria turned on Alice once she had what she wanted. Chances were she'd do the same to James once she'd used him to her advantage. Although, I was completely unclear on what Victoria needed James for. I mean, why hook up with an old flame if you're only going to try and pursue someone who isn't interested? I didn't get it.

* * *

I woke up the next morning and found the sky cloudy and gray with large raindrops falling from it. Throwing on a long-sleeve shirt and jeans, I grabbed my jacket and my bag and headed out the door when Edward honked. Jasper was in the backseat and he looked just as bad as he had the day before. The poor boy had bags under his eyes and his hair was a tangled mess. I shot him a worried look before climbing into the car.

"Is he okay?" I mouthed to Edward after telling them good morning. Edward shrugged which I didn't find very comforting. I could only assume that Alice and Jasper's talk hadn't gone so well. The three of us were quiet on the drive to school and once we'd parked in the school lot, Jasper got out and headed inside without saying a word.

I whirled around to face Edward. "Their talk didn't go well, did it?"

"I honestly don't know, Bella. He wouldn't talk to either of us about it," he told me, running his hand through his hair.

I let out a heavy sigh, then took Edward's hand and we walked into school. With a quick kiss to my lips, Edward headed down the hall toward his locker and I stopped at mine. I got a bit of a shock when I shut my locker door and Alice was standing there. I admit, I jumped a bit.

"Hey. How are you?" I asked as we began to walk down the hallway like we used to.

"Okay, I guess. I feel a bit better now that you guys know the truth, but …" she trailed off.

I nodded. I wanted to ask her how her talk with Jasper had gone, but I think it was sort of obvious that it hadn't gone well.

"Jasper hates me," she mumbled as we turned a corner.

I didn't believe that. He was hurt and he was angry but he didn't hate her, and I told her that. She gave me a small smile but I knew she didn't believe me. With a sigh I watched as she walked into her class before heading to my own.

The rumors around school has once again been rampant once word had spread that Alice was no longer one of our group and had taken up with Victoria. Then more rumors surfaced when Icky Vicky dropped Alice, and now that Alice was sitting with us at lunch, the rumor train was going once again. It got about ten times worse when Jasper sat with some of the football players instead of us.

"Why did they breakup?" I heard a girl at the next table ask her friend.

"She's a druggie," came the voice of Victoria and loudly at that. Heads swiveled and people stopped what they were doing to stare at her. It was exactly what she wanted. Now, that she was in the limelight she tossed her hair behind her shoulder and put her hands on her hips.

"Alice Brandon is a drug addict. I begged her to get help, but she refused," she began, and I saw red. The bitch was going down and it looked like I wouldn't be taking her alone. Emmett cracked his neck and knuckles, Edward glared menacing, and Rose had her bitch face on. Oh yeah, it was about to go down.

I took a step toward Victoria, but Jasper beat me to it. He got up close and personal with Victoria and glowered down at her before bending to whisper something in her ear. Whatever it was, it caused her to turn pale. I raised an eyebrow at that. Just what did Jasper have on Victoria? She opened her mouth to say something but Mr. Masen showed up and asked if there was a problem. Victoria shook her head and then he told her to come with him. As Mr. Masen walked past, I heard him saying something about slandering other students. I guess the school officials didn't know about Alice's addiction because if they'd known she'd had drugs on school property she would have been expelled.

Once Victoria had been escorted out of the lunchroom, things went back to the way they were. Sort of. Of course now, thanks to Victoria, everyone had new gossip to talk about and spread. I unclenched my fist, mouthed a thank you to Jasper and headed back to my seat. Alice was sitting there, frozen, her eyes wide with fear. Victoria had outed her to everyone and it didn't matter whether it was true or not. Our peers would wonder and speculate. The damage was done, and I could see Alice was about to lose it.

"Deep breaths, Ali," I told her as I sat back down next to her. She followed my advice and calmed down a bit. I figured if she freaked out, it would only solidify the rumor in everyone's minds.

By the time the school day was done, I was exhausted and pissed off. I defended Alice at every turn despite the fact that the rumors were indeed true. It was no one's business but Alice's and ours and the rest of the world needed to butt out.

The rest of the week was much the same. People talking, whispering, gossiping. It was beyond annoying, but Alice seemed to have a better handle on things by Friday. Deciding that we needed to do something fun, I suggested we have a sleepover at my house. Hopefully, this one would turn out better than the last one. Charlie was perfectly fine with it, although he warned me he'd be calling and checking in. I think he was a bit leery about Alice after everything which was understandable.

So Friday night, the girls and I were camped out on my couch watching eighties movies and eating cookies in our pajamas. It was nice and relaxing and we steered clear of any stressful topics for the first few hours. I was hoping for an entirely stress-free night, but Rose had other ideas. After we finished watching _Sixteen Candles_, Rose turned to Alice.

"So what's the deal with you and Jasper?" she asked, a bit sharply if you asked me.

Alice's face crumpled and tears welled up in her eyes. "He's so mad at me, and I don't think he'll ever forgive me. I don't blame him though. What I did to you all, but especially Bella and Edward was awful. Mrs. Demitri says these things take time and that Jasper may forgive me, but I've got a bumpy road ahead of me."

"Well, for what it's worth I don't think he hates you. If he did, he wouldn't have defended you from Victoria," I said.

Rose nodded in agreement. "I wanna know what he said to Icky Vicky. He sure shut her down fast."

Alice and I both nodded. I was dying to know what he'd said, but neither Edward or Emmett knew and Jasper was keeping it to himself. But whatever it was he had said, it had caused her to shut up and fast.

* * *

We were slowly making our way into February and all kinds of things had happened. James had been charged with possession and distribution of illegal drugs and was sentenced to three years in prison and given a fine of twenty-five thousand dollars. Hopefully, we'd never see him again. In the end, he'd told Charlie that he'd helped Victoria break into our house and he'd keyed the word "mine" into Edward's car. When asked why, he said it was because he had wanted me and Victoria had wanted Edward. They decided to help each other out; it had been a win/win situation in their minds.

Charlie had said it was amazing how fast James had turned on Victoria once he'd been convicted. So, now there was a warrant for Victoria's arrest for being an accomplice to destruction of property. However, Victoria had flown the coop. Her parents didn't know where she was and they were frantic with worry. Personally, I didn't care where she was as long as she didn't come back.

Tanya was roughly seven months along, give or take a few weeks and she'd dropped out of school and was being tutored. We still had no idea who the father was and she wasn't saying, but Alice told us that Victoria had played a role in it. I'd asked what she'd meant, and she'd said that Victoria said she'd given Tanya some faulty condoms to use. Now, as much as I disliked Tanya, I sure as hell didn't think she deserved to have her best friend throw her under a bus like that. But I had a theory about it. I figured Icky Vicky must have been lusting after my man for quite some time, but he was committed to Tanya. All she had to do was give Tanya some condoms with holes in them or whatever and Tanya uses them when she cheated and then tada! Tanya gets pregnant with some other dude's kid and Edward would be Victoria's for the taking.

But, on a more positive note. Jasper and Alice were on speaking terms. They were cordial enough, but I wouldn't necessarily say they were super friendly. They were working on just being friends again, and Edward and I supported them the best we could. We'd been there and done that after all.

As for Edward and I, we were stronger than ever. I think after everything that had happened, we realized just how important trust truly was. We told each other everything. Well, mostly. Edward wasn't telling me where he was taking me for Valentine's, and I was dying to know. I'd done everything I could to find out from the others, but they had no clue. I knew where Emmett was taking Rosalie, but I had no idea what Alice or Jasper were going to do. I secretly hoped they'd spend the day together even if it was just to keep each other company.

When Valentine's Day arrived, I was greeted at my front door by a gorgeous Edward holding a red rose. Smiling, I took it from him, gave him a kiss, then went to put the rose in a vase. Once I was settled into his car which he'd gotten back after weeks of being in the shop, I was handed a flat, square box.

"Edward!" I whined. I wasn't huge on presents and he knew it.

"Shush!"

With an eye roll I opened the box and found a box of delightfully, delicious looking chocolates. I pulled one out and popped it in my mouth, moaning when the wonderful chocolatey taste hit my tongue. They were sinfully good.

"Want one?" I asked and Edward nodded. I plucked one out of the box and brought it to his mouth, letting out a hiss of delight when his lips wrapped around my fingers.

"Mmm. Tasty," he said with a wink, causing my insides to flutter. He was a dangerous creature.

Later on in school, I found a dozen red, heart-shaped lollipops taped to my locker, each of them with a note from Edward. During lunch, I was rewarded with more flowers delivered by some guy wearing wings and carrying a plastic bow and arrow. It was embarrassing, yet sweet at the same time. I'd given Edward a sappy but cute card and a gift card to iTunes.

As they day came to an end, I was whisked away by Alice who was going to help Rose and I get ready for our romantic night out. I felt bad about Alice spending Valentine's alone, but she shook her head and said it was fine. Besides, she and Jasper had been talking more and had decided they might hangout later. I hoped they did.

"O.M.G. You look so freaking hot! Edward is going to lose his mind!" Alice exclaimed after she'd tortured me for what felt like hours. I turned around and looked at myself in Alice's full-length mirror and almost didn't recognize myself. I looked smoking hot! Alice had curled my hair, pinning some of it up, and the makeup job she'd done was phenomenal.

"Holy! Jesus, Ali! You're amazing!" I gushed.

"I know," she said with a smug grin, and I couldn't help but laugh and give her a hug. Then, I sat down and watched as she gave Rose a makeover as well. Not that Rose needed much help when it came to looking gorgeous. By quarter to seven, we were both dolled up and looking hot and Edward and Emmett were on their way to pick us up. Emmett arrived first and they took off after Alice took pictures, and then it was my turn.

Edward walked in the door looking all kinds of sinful and I had a moment as I looked at him. He was so freaking beautiful and he was all mine. Sometimes, I still couldn't believe it. He let out a whistle when he saw me before sweeping me into his arms and planting a passionate kiss on my lips that left me blushing.

"Ahem," Alice said, clearing her throat. I'd forgotten where I was for a moment, but Edward's kisses often left me that way.

"Sorry," we both mumbled a bit sheepishly. Alice rolled her eyes, took pictures of us, and sent us out the door.

"So, where are you taking me?" I asked once we were in his car.

He shot me a grin before telling me it was a surprise and I needed to be patient. I suppose I could do that. After all, I was going on a Valentine's date with the most gorgeous man in Alabama.

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**a/n: Okay, so the first part of this chapter flew from my fingertips. The last half was like pulling teeth, and I was ready to pull my hair out. Hence, why it's a bit shorter than normal. Next chapter will begin with their date. As always, let me know what you thought.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Happy Friday, folks! Thanks so much for all the reviews last chapter. It's a crazy weekend for me which I get to spend working 2nd shift tomorrow. Boo! **

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I watched out the window as Wild Turkey rolled by and before long we passed by the sign welcoming us to Riverton, but he didn't stop there. I had a feeling he was taking me to Mobile, and I was perfectly fine with that. We'd had a blast the last time we'd gone there.

"Mobile?" I asked, and he shot me a grin.

"Maybe."

I rolled my eyes. I knew I was right. We talked quietly as we drove past the Mobile city limits, but I let out a gasp when he pulled into the parking lot of Justine's on the Pillars. It was beautiful and I could tell it was super pricey, and I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with that. Yes, I knew the Cullens had money and I knew that Edward liked to spoil me, but I wasn't the spoiling type of girl. Not really. I mean, if Edward wanted to buy me a house full of books, I probably wouldn't say no, but pricey dinners and jewelry weren't my thing.

"C'mon. Our reservations are for seven-thirty," he told me, coming around to my side of the car and opening my door. I suddenly felt very out of my element. Tucking my hand in his, he walked us up to the door and held it open for me. Slowly, I walked in and I stared in awe at the beauty around me. Chandeliers, hardwood floors, fireplaces, and candles. It was the epitome of romance.

"Reservation for Cullen," Edward told the hostess and immediately we were led to a small table in a cozy corner. Once we were seated, we were handed menus and I was afraid to open mine. I knew for a fact the prices would astound me, and Edward knew it as well.

"Order whatever you want. I mean it, Bella. This is our first Valentine's together, although I hope for there to be countless more," he told me, reaching across the table and squeezing my hand.

I squeezed his hand back before opening up my menu. Oh, yeah, the prices were extravagant, but like Edward said, this was our first Valentine's together. When our waitress came for our order, I sucked it up and got the Rib Eye while Edward got the New York Strip.

Taking a sip of my water, I took another good look around. Yeah, this place was definitely romantic, but it was the young man sitting across from me that made it that much more romantic. He was the best thing to have happened to me, and I truly meant that. And lord, I hoped there would be countless more Valentine's Days together. I had to admit, I was a bit nervous about what the future held. We had one more year of school left and then we'd be college bound. My original plan had been to head back to Seattle and attend the University of Washington, but that wasn't the plan anymore. I wasn't about to leave Edward, and I'd grown to love to Alabama. I'd taken to looking at schools in Mobile and the surrounding areas. I knew Edward was looking into those as well.

"How's your food?" he asked me after our food had arrived and we'd begun to eat.

"Excellent. Want a bite?" I asked. He nodded and I held the fork out to him, nearly moaning when his lips wrapped around the fork. He was so freaking hot and he didn't even realize it.

"Hmm," he said, licking his lips. "That is good. Want a bite of mine?"

We took our time eating our entrees and talking, and then Edward ordered a delectable dessert that we shared. Definitely the most romantic night of my life. Unfortunately, since it was a school night, we had to head back before it got too late.

"Thanks for a perfect Valentine's Day," I told him as we pulled into my drive, and I placed a kiss on his lips.

"You're quite welcome," he mumbled against my lips before his tongue sought entrance. I gladly gave it. Despite the fact the console was between us, I managed to maneuver myself closer to Edward. I had one hand fisted in his hair while the other was resting on the back of his neck, pulling him closer to me. Edward's hands had begun to wander and I didn't mind in the least. I lost track of time as we sat in his car making out, but the flickering of the proch light and the front door opening had me pulling away. That was Charlie's way of telling me it was time to come in, yet he didn't want to invade my privacy.

"Crap. I so don't want your dad shooting me. Guess, I should let you go, huh?"

I gave him a smile and a quick peck on the lips before opening my door and getting out. I watched and waved as Edward left before trudging up the steps and onto the porch.

"Nice date?" Charlie asked, shooting me a grin as I walked in the door.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, it was perfect," I told with a sigh. "Sorry about –"

Charlie shook his head. "It's fine. I was young and in love once," he said with a smile, but his eyes were sad. I was truly hoping he'd find someone around here to date but so far, he hadn't.

* * *

In the weeks that had passed since Valentine's Day, things with Alice and Jasper had gotten better. They'd been spending more time together and really talking. They weren't where they had been, but they were slowly mending the broken fences. It was good to see, and they both seemed a lot happier.

Victoria had been spotted lurking around the school, but no one knew where she was staying or who she was with. She had stopped attending classes, but more than once she'd been spotted near the gym or in the parking lot. The school was well aware that she was wanted by the police for questioning and the minute the security guards had approached her, she would take off. It was maddening. I couldn't figure out why the hell she was lurking around the school. It wasn't like anyone was friends with her anymore. Even Jane and Lauren had stopped hanging around with her. Word had spread about Victoria and James antics, and of course like gossip tends to do, it got thrown way out of proportion. But the end result was that people were extremely weary of Victoria and now she was alone.

Edward and I had driven separately for the first time in months, and it felt strange. He'd had to leave early because of a dentist appointment, taking Emmett and Jasper with him. I'd offered Alice a ride home, but she opted to stay behind and watch Rose's cheer practice. That was fine with me. I'd ended up leaving school later than normal, having stayed behind to help Mrs. Dormien with an art project. As I made my way out to the parking lot, I noticed it was mostly deserted. There were a few cars in the lot belonging most likely to the cheerleaders or athletes but for the most part, it was empty. I'd had to park in the back of the lot, and the hairs on my neck stood up as I made my way toward my car.

Pulling out my phone, I called Edward, wanting someone to talk to as I made my way to the car. When his phone went to voicemail, I let out a growl and began to move quicker. I just had this horrible feeling that something was wrong. I fumbled with my keys to unlock the door and let out a sigh of relief once I was in my car safe and sound. I quickly locked the door, started her up, and headed home. As soon as I arrived home, I parked the car and dashed inside. I couldn't shake the nervous feeling that I had. Charlie had always told me to trust my gut, and my gut was telling me something was wrong. I couldn't have been more right.

"You've really been a pain in my ass, Bella," Victoria said from behind me, and I whirled around to find her standing in my living room a malicious grin on her face.

"How did you get in here?" I asked, feeling a tad bit scared.

She gave a shrug as she continued to grin at me. Her eyes looked a bit wild, and I was beginning to think she was off her freaking rocker. Yeah, forget that. She was off her freaking rockers. Something was seriously wrong with her, and I really didn't want to be alone with her. Slowly, I began to back away before I turned and ran for the door. I wasn't quick enough because Victoria beat me to it.

"What's the matter, Bella? Scared?" I didn't say anything.

"Well, you should be. You see, you have something that I want and I intend on having it."

Immediately, I knew she was talking about Edward.

"Good luck with that, Victoria. Edward doesn't want you. He's never wanted you. What makes you think he'll go to you?"

Her eyes turned dark and a scary look came across her face as she leaned into me. "I have my ways, Bella. Don't you worry about it. Once you're out of the picture, he'll be mine. Forever."

_She was freaking nuts!_ I wasn't going anywhere and I sure as hell wasn't giving Edward up without a fight.

"What do you mean out of the picture?" I asked, trying to keep her talking and praying that Charlie would come home early.

She let out a laugh that had shivers running up my spine. "What do you think I mean? I can't let you stay around here. I'd never have a chance with Edward if you were still around. No, I think it's safe to say you won't be walking out of here."

I stared at her like she'd lost her freaking mind. Oh, wait. She had. I was almost one hundred percent sure she was talking about killing me. There was no way on God's green earth, I was about to let that happen. Screw this bitch. With that though, I bull rushed her. She was more than surprised when I slammed into her and knocked her off balance. She stumbled and fell to the floor where I kicked at her, making contact with her side before I fumbled with the lock on the front door. I had to get out and get help. The second the door was unlocked, I rushed out and down the steps and began running.

I could hear her screaming and giving chase, and I wished like hell I was more athletic. Trying to stay focused on the road in front of me, I dug my phone out of my pocket and attempted to unlock it and dial Charlie.

"Hey, Bells," he said, and I almost sobbed with relief when I heard his voice.

"Victori—chasing me—help," was all I could manage to get out between boughs of heavy breathing.

"Where are you?"

"Road near home. Heading to town," I gasped out, wincing at the stitch I'd just gotten in my side.

"I'll be right there. Keep moving," Charlie said. I hung up the phone and a quick glance behind me showed Victoria hot on my heels. There was no way I was going to be able to outrun her especially not with the way my lungs were burning and my side was hurting. Somehow, I managed to keep going until something hit me in the back and I stumbled, tripping over my feet and falling to the ground. I tried to get up and I was hit again and again, and when I looked over my shoulder, I saw Victoria had some rocks in her hands. Great. She was going to stone me to death.

I grabbed one of the rocks she'd thrown at me and lobbed it back, missing by a mile. So throwing was my forte. I was stumbling to my feet when a rock hit me in the side of my head and I went down for good, the world turning black. My last though was of Edward.

* * *

"C'mon, Bells. Wake up for me, honey," I heard Charlie's voice say from far away. I struggled to do as he asked, but my eyelids felt incredibly heavy.

"Why won't she wake up?"

"She will, Charlie but she took a nasty hit to the head. She's lucky all she had to get was stitches. That rock could have killed her, Charlie."

I heard Charlie let out a sigh. "I know, Carlisle. I know. I'm just glad that we caught Victoria before she did any more damage."

Victoria? My eyes flew open when I remembered that she'd been chasing me and throwing rocks at me.

"Bells!" Charlie cried out, seeing my eyes open. I blinked a few times and looked around, trying to figure out where I was.

"It's okay, honey. You're in the hospital," he told me.

My hand reached up to touch my head where it was throbbing and I asked Charlie if he got Victoria.

"I did. I'm sorry I was too late to stop you from being hurt, but we got her. She's been arrested on a array of charges and chances are good she'll be put away for quite some time."

I sighed with relief at the news. I was ready for things to calm down.

"There's some folks outside waiting to see you. One in particular. Should I send him in?" Charlie asked, and I nodded, wincing as I did.

Moments later, Edward was rushing through the door and wrapping his arms around me, holding me tightly and pressing kisses to the side of my head. When he pulled away, there were tears in his eyes.

"God, Bella. I don't think I've ever been so scared," he said, cupping my face in his hands. "Charlie called to let me know that you'd been hurt by Victoria and all kinds of horrible things ran through my head. I can't tell you how glad I am to see you awake."

"I'm okay," I told him, wrapping a hand around his wrist and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I mean, my head hurts like a bitch, but I'm going to be okay. I can tell you I was scared as all could be though, when she showed up in my house. She was talking about getting rid of me so she could have you."

Edward shook his head. "She's one crazy bitch. I'm so sorry she hurt you," he said, leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on my lips. His gentle touch was all it took for all my fear to come pouring out of me. Large tears formed in my eyes and began falling and they wouldn't stop. I clung to Edward tightly as he rocked us gently and allowed me to cry my tears. Slowly, my tears subsided and I let out a sniffle.

"Thanks," I said when he handed me some tissues.

I spent the night at the hospital which I absolutely hated and was extremely glad to go home the next morning. Charlie had taken a few days off of work, and I'd been excused from school for a couple of days. My head still hurt pretty bad, and Charlie had become quite the mother hen. He hovered around and constantly asked if I was okay and was driving me nuts.

"I'm fine, Dad! Really. I am. Just please go watch a ball game or something," I begged and he finally relented. I loved Charlie, but I didn't love all the hovering and he wasn't the only one. My friends and Edward all hovered to, and it was getting annoying. I knew they loved me and were worried about me, but I was going to be okay. I had seven stitches, a massive headache most of the time, and nightmares, but other than that, I was perfectly okay. I was itching to get back into the swing of things.

Of course, the minute I got back to school, the hordes descended upon me, demanding to know what had happened. It was no one's business but mine and I told them all where they could shove it. Okay, so perhaps I'd developed a bit of an attitude since my Victoria ordeal. If some crazy bitch had tried to kill you, you'd probably have one too. And my attitude was starting to get me in trouble. I'd been mouthing off to Charlie, to my teachers, even to my friends and Edward. That was in an intervention had been called on by my friends. Alice had been the ring leader and she told me I needed to talk to someone. She was right. I did need to talk to someone who wasn't so involved.

A week later, I was attending therapy in Riverton and would go once a week. It was nice to let it all out to some stranger. I told her everything. I talked about my parents' divorce, about my mother pretty much writing me off, about Edward and the issues we'd had. I talked about it all and by the end of my first session, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It was as if my problems were no longer mine anymore. I'd given them to someone else to hold on to and it was incredibly freeing.

* * *

"C'mon, guys. Let's go see that new movie that's playing," Emmett whined to us Friday afternoon as we hung out at their house.

I was cuddled up on the sofa next to Edward and watching the secret smiles and glances Alice and Jasper were giving each other.

"Which movie?" Edward asked, playing with a strand of my hair.

"You know," Emmett said with an eye roll. "The one about the monsters coming after the kids in the cabin."

Of course it would be that one. Emmett loved his horror movies, mainly because they scared the hell out of Rose. Well, that and more often than not some chick took her top off during the movie.

"I don't care," I told them, picking up Edward's hand and fiddling with his fingers. He really had sexy hands, and I enjoyed the feel of them on me.

In the end we all agreed to go see the horror movie, so we took two cars and met up at the theater. Edward bought us a large drink and popcorn which he proceeded to smother in butter and salt. I grabbed a shit ton of napkins because I wasn't about to have butter drip through the bag and onto my new jeans. I'd learned that lesson the hard way last time Edward and I had gone to the movies. My boy loved his movie butter.

"Ready?" he asked.

I nodded and followed him inside. We found a spot in the middle, away from the others. I'd quickly learned not to sit near Emmett in a movie theater. He either talked through the whole thing or spent the whole time groping Rose, and there were some things I just didn't need to see. Alice and Jasper had chosen to sit on the other side of the aisle in the area that had seats for two. I was so thrilled they were finally reconnecting. It made me happy to see them both looking happy.

"They look happier," I whispered to Edward, who was busy getting situated.

"Yeah," he said with a sweet smile. "Jasper said they've got a date next week. They're going to try dating again. He's crazy in love with her, but hurt that she didn't trust him."

"I totally get that, but I'm thrilled he didn't give up on her. They belong together, kind of like us and Rose and Emmett.

Edward grinned and held the bag of popcorn out to me. "So, Rose and Emmett belong together with us. That sounds a bit creepy and a tad incestuous."

I rolled my eyes and smacked him on the arm. "You're such a dork."

He leaned over and gave me a kiss and that's when I got hit with a hail of popcorn. I turned around and found Emmett grinning at us from a few rows bag.

"Cool down, kids. The movies about to start," he said with a grin which was met with a middle finger from Edward.

The movie wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and it had a twist I never saw coming. All in all, I had a good time, but that was mainly due to Edward. More than once, I was convinced he'd been taking advice from Emmett on how to grope a girl in a dark theater. At least we managed to not get caught. That was something Em needed to work on.

"Dude! That movie was fucking awesome!" Emmett shouted once we were in the parking lot.

"You mean you actually watched it?" Jasper asked, ducking the punch Emmett threw his way.

We spent the rest of the evening goofing off and just hanging out. It was nice to just be with my friends and Edward and not have to worry about crazy people coming after anyone. Well, people crazier than Emmett. As I sat on the beach with the rest of the gang watching the bonfire the boys had made, I hoped it would be smooth sailing from here on out.

* * *

**a/n: Yep, so two chapters left until this story is over. Please go check out my newest story****_ The Hunted_****. It's in need of a bit of love. See you next Friday!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Well folks, this is the last regular chapter. Epilogue will be up next Friday and feel free to check out my other story ****_The Hunted_****. Again, this chapter is a bit on the short side but seeing as how I've gotten 6 hours of sleep in the past two days, I'm impressed it's as long as it is.**

**...**

"Wait. What?" I asked, staring at Charlie as if he'd lost his freaking marbles and maybe he had. There was just no way I'd heard him correctly. No way.

"I said, Carlisle and Esme have offered to take you to Brazil for spring break with the kids. I told them it was fine if you wanted to go."

My jaw dropped open and I shook my head. "But –we can't afford for me to fly to Brazil. Can we?"

Charlie stroked his mustache and his cheeks turned a bit pink. "They offered to cover half of your ticket if I paid the other half and I agreed. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and I know how much you hate being away from Edward."

I couldn't get a word out. I was pretty sure I was going into shock. If I understood Charlie correctly, he was saying that I was going to Brazil with Edward for spring break. That couldn't possibly be right.

"So you're saying, I'm going to Brazil with the Cullens?" I finally asked.

"Yep. If you want to and boy, I hope you do since I already paid for half your flight."

I stood still for a moment before throwing my arms around Charlie in a tight hug. I muttered thank yous over and over again before letting go and rushing off to call Edward.

"Hey, sweet girl!" Edward said upon answering his phone.

"I'm going to Brazil with you!" I squealed sounding a bit like Alice.

"I know," he said with a laugh. "Mom and Dad told me that Charlie okayed it. It's going to be the best spring break ever!"

Eight days later, I was basking on the beach of the small island his relatives owned, and one of the best parts was that the other girls had gotten to come to. Alice's parents had paid for her ticket and Rose's dad had gone half in like Charlie had. I was forever grateful to Esme and Carlisle for their generosity and I knew Rose was as well. To thank them, we'd made dinner and dessert our second night there. They'd both waved off our continuous thanks and had told us it was their pleasure.

"What's the plan today, sweet girl?" Edward asked from beside me where he looked absolutely delicious laying on his towel in his board shorts.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," I told him. We'd been here for four days and had done a lot of sight seeing and hiking, but I was ready for a day of nothing but Edward and relaxation.

"Sounds good," he said, propping up on an elbow and leaning over to kiss me, and I melted into his kiss. We'd gotten even closer over the past two months since everything had gone down with Victoria. There had definitely been a lot more groping and under the clothes touching, but we hadn't gone all the way yet. I just wasn't quite ready for that big step, and Edward accepted and supported my decision. Not that we didn't still have fun with one another, because we did.

The past two months before spring break had also been incredibly hectic. I'd had to deal with Victoria crap, writing out my statement and giving testimony. The trial had been surprisingly quick and she'd been sentenced to four years for assault in the first degree and burglary. There were some other minor charges thrown in as well. I was just glad she was gone, although I still felt she got off lightly. Charlie did too and had put up a bit of a fuss but it had done no good in the end.

Tanya had given birth to a boy last week who was born a bit premature. She was planning on giving it up for adoption and then moving to Georgia to live with her aunt and uncle. She'd stopped by my house three weeks ago and had apologized for her behavior. I'd been more than a bit stunned but I'd managed to accept her apology. She'd told me she was moving so she could have a fresh start where no one knew her or her past. I thought it was a smart thing to do. She never did name the father of the baby and I didn't know if that was because she didn't know or she didn't want anyone else too. Whatever her reasons were, she kept it to herself.

Alice and Jasper were officially back together, and I was thrilled for the both of them. They'd spent a lot of time talking and getting to know one another again, and Jasper had even gone to some of Alice's therapy sessions. Now, they were stronger than ever and more open and honest.

"Hey, are you two gonna lay there and make out all day or what?" Emmett hollered from the water.

"Yes!" we both yelled out, our lips coming back together afterward. I definitely loved the feel of Edward's lips against mine and wasn't ready to let them go just yet. However, Emmett had other ideas and we broke apart with a gasp as he threw a bucket of water on us.

"Emmett!" Edward yelled, giving chase to his brother who was running for his life. I rolled my eyes at their childish behavior. I hadn't been joking when I said I didn't want to do anything. I had no plans to go chase after anyone. I was going to stay right where I was and get a nice tan. Hopefully.

"Aahh!" Emmett screamed in a high pitched voice as Edward shoved a handful of sand down Em's pants.

"God, they're such overgrown children," Rose said, plopping down on her towel on the other side of me.

"Tell me about it," I muttered, closing my eyes and soaking up the sun.

The girls and I laid about as the boys chased each other and goofed off. Eventually, even Emmett calmed down and the boys came back to rest on their towels.

"Movie tonight?" Jasper asked a little while later.

"Sure," we all murmured.

A few hours later, some clouds rolled in and thunder could be heard in the distance. We gathered up our stuff and headed inside just as the rain began to fall. Carlisle and Esme were spending the night on the mainland, leaving us to our own devices. Not that we weren't given a strict set of rules. Rules that including no sleeping or doing anything else in anyone else's bed, no getting into any of the alcohol in the house, and no skinny dipping. Apparently, Rose and Emmett had gotten busted skinny dipping on the beach near the Cullen house last summer. I think it would have been a mortifying experience, but Rose had just shrugged it off as if it was no biggie. Then again, if I had a body like hers, I wouldn't be ashamed to flaunt it either.

So as the storm raged outside, we all curled up with our significant others and watched horror movie after horror movie. Yeah, I like I wasn't going to have a hard time sleeping later that night. After the movies were over and the junk food had been consumed, I headed upstairs with Edward. We said goodnight outside my bedroom door although I did notice Emmett following Rose into her room. I had a feeling they would be in for a world of hurt if Esme and Carlisle caught them.

"Night, sweet girl," Edward said softly in my ear before pressing a long, hard kiss to my lips. I held him close, not quite ready to let him go.

"Goodnight," I told him, finally parting from his arms and heading into my room. I kept the door cracked open and then crawled into bed.

I'd been asleep for about an hour or so when a large crack of thunder resonated over the house and lightening filled the sky. But it was the howling winds that had me freaking out. I jumped out of bed and ran toward Edward's room only to run smack into him.

"You okay?" he asked, running his hands up and down my arms.

"Yeah, but the wind is a bit scary," I said, burying my face in his chest.

"Come on," he said, practically carrying me into his room. He left the door cracked as he tucked me into his bed before crawling in beside me. Immediately, I snuggled up against him, sighing as he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me even closer. I tossed one leg over his and played with the hem of his shirt.

"Better?" he asked and I nodded against his chest. I made him promise to set the alarm because I didn't want to get caught sleeping in his bed by his parents. He set the alarm for around six and I found myself quickly falling into a deep sleep.

"Baby, you've got to get up," I heard Edward whisper in my ear. I heard the words but only snuggled closer. I wasn't ready to leave his warm embrace.

"C'mon, Bella," he said once more, but I wasn't moving. I was warm and comfortable. Moments later, my eyes flew open as Edward picked me up and carried me down the hall to my room where he deposited me on the bed.

"Love you. I'll see you in a bit," he said, dropping a kiss on my lips. I kissed him back before rolling over and going back to sleep.

"I swear Emmett Cullen! You are going to be the death of me, and you're the reason I have all this gray hair! Did we not tell you to behave?" I heard Esme shouting as I began to make my way downstairs.

"But Ma–"

"Don't but ma, me! You knew the rules and you and Rosalie broke them. Again," she said and I could hear the exasperation in her voice. "Do I need to have you sleep in our room?"

"No!" Emmett yelled, obviously horrified at the thought.

"Then I suggest you behave and follow our rules. Is that understood?"

I heard a weak "yes ma'am" come out of Emmett's mouth and when I turned the corner, I saw him standing there with his shoulders hunched and looking like a little boy in trouble. Well, he was a boy in trouble.

"Good morning, Bella," Esme said as soon as she saw me. I said good morning back and felt slightly guilty that I'd broken her rules as well. Thankfully, Edward had woken up in time to put me back in my own bed, or we'd be the ones getting yelled at.

Far too soon, our trip was over and we were on our way home. While I was glad to be back and to see Charlie, I was also sad to leave the tropical paradise behind. It had been the most amazing trip of my life and Edward has promised we'd go back again. I was holding him to it.

**…...**

"School's out forever!" Emmett sang as he danced his way into the school parking lot, and I couldn't help but laugh. His enthusiasm was catching though and soon we were all singing along with him to Alice Cooper's song. I, however, wasn't about to be caught dead attempting to dance in the parking lot. Dancing in public wasn't really my thing, although I had allowed Edward to take me to the prom where I had indeed danced in public. It had been a pretty great night and we'd all had a blast.

"Come on, guys! It's beach time!" Emmett yelled despite the fact that we were right next to him. I was really going to miss him come the beginning of the new school year.

He and Rose would be moving to Mobile to attend college, and I was relieved to know they weren't going to be too far away. It would be strange not seeing them everyday, but it was going to be just as strange being a senior.

I tossed my empty backpack into the back of Edward's car and climbed into the passenger seat before leaning over and planting a kiss on Edward's cheek.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Hell yes!"

This summer was going to be so much better than last, and it was amazing to see how far I'd come in a year. When we'd first moved here, I'd hated it and I'd had issues with Edward and his asshole attitude. Funny, how all that had changed. Now, I loved Alabama and I loved Edward.

An hour later, we were all sitting on the beach behind the Cullen house, drinking sodas and listening to the radio. Carlisle and Esme had gone out to get the ingredients needed for a clambake and Charlie had been invited, as well as Rose's dad and Alice's parents. Come to think of it, I wasn't sure all of our parents had ever hung out together.

"Want to go for a swim?" Edward asked me, interrupting my thoughts.

"Sure," I said, grabbing one of the large canvas rafts we'd brought with us. Minutes later, Edward and I were hanging on our rafts, exchanging kisses and basking in the beautiful June weather.

"Time to eat!" Carlisle hollered, and all of us kids climbed out of the water and headed toward the beach to dry off. Carlisle and Charlie had put up a bunch of tables and chairs and I couldn't help but giggle as Emmett made a beeline for bonfire holding the clambake.

"Back away, Emmett! Let everyone else go first!" Esme shouted at him, causing him to pout.

"But, Ma–"

"No, buts! You'll eat all of it if you go first."

Emmett continued to pout as the rest of us piled our plates high and I swore Edward and Jasper loaded their plates up high on purpose, just to torment poor Emmett. Finally, Em was allowed to dish up some food, and I don't think he'd ever looked so happy.

Over dinner, we discussed a variety of subjects. Everything from Emmett and Rosalie's going off to college, to summer jobs, to how to spend the summer. I loved seeing all of us gathered together and having a great time. It was awesome.

**…...**

"I'm sorry, you what?" I asked Charlie, staring at him.

He fiddled with the collar of his shirt and then his mustache, his cheeks tinged pink. "I have a date," he mumbled.

"With who?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"Sue Clearwater. She runs the Flamingo," he said, looking everywhere but at me.

"I had no idea you were interested in anyone."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, yeah. We've been talking for a while when I got there on my lunch break. I like her, so I asked her out."

"Okay, then," I said with a grin, enjoying his discomfort just a bit. I thought it was great that he was putting himself out there and going on a date. It had been a year since the divorce, and I knew that he still loved Renee a bit, but I was glad to see him attempting to move on. Renee certainly had and without a backward glance.

"So when's your date?"

"Tomorrow night," he told me as he sat down in his recliner and I handed him a beer from the fridge.

"Are you nervous?"

He shot me a look as if saying duh. "Of course. I haven't been on a date in roughly twenty years. Renee dated a bit and then got married. We didn't go on dates after that. So, yeah. I'm nervous."

"You'll be fine. Where are you taking her?"

"To a nice restaurant in Mobile."

The next afternoon, everyone gathered at my house so we could see Charlie off on his date. The guys couldn't have cared less, but Rose and Alice were adamant about making sure he was dressed properly. It wasn't like I was going to let him out of the house wearing his cop uniform or wearing a lumberjack shirt.

"Is all this fuss really necessary?" Charlie whined as Alice fixed his collar.

"Yes. You want to impress her, not scare her off," she told him before nodding and deeming him date worthy.

"Be back by one," I told him with a smirk as Rose and Alice practically shoved him out the door and warned him not to be late. He rolled his eyes before waving goodbye and backing his SUV down the driveway.

"Sue is a really nice lady," Rose assured me after Charlie left. "You dad could do way worse."

"Yeah, she makes a mean lemon meringue pie and she's super nice. Her husband died a few years ago and she hasn't dated since then," Alice told me.

I wasn't really too awfully worried. I just didn't want Charlie falling for another Renee. He needed someone positive in his life who wouldn't take him for granted or harbor resentment toward him. I really hoped things worked out with him and Sue.

A couple hours after everyone left, the front door opened and looked up from my spot on the couch and saw Charlie walking in.

"How'd it go?" I asked, not really needing an answer because the sappy grin on his face said it all.

"Good, Bells. It went really good. We're going to go out again next week," he said with a smile as he sat down across from me in his chair.

"Good," I told him with a smile. "I'm glad you had a good time."

Over the next several weeks, Charlie and Sue were seen around town holding hands and acting giddy. I'd finally gotten to really meet her, and I was relieved to find I liked her. She was a wonderful person with a great sense of humor and she doted on Charlie. I had a feeling she was going to become a permanent fixture in my life. She had a fifteen year old son, Seth, who would be starting high school at the end of summer and I offered to show him around the school. He was a really nice, really tall kid who had his mother's wicked sense of humor. I could tell Charlie had been thrilled that Seth and I got along so well, and Seth had told me he was glad his mom had found Charlie.

Seth had been taken in by our group as well. The others knew him from around town, but hadn't really known him. Now, he was a regular at our outings, although I felt bad that he was the only single one there. He told me it was no biggie. I was sure the kid would find someone to hook up with over the summer.

Tourist season was well in swing and the campground was constantly busy. I was putting in way more hours than I really wanted to as was Edward and that left us little time to see each other. Summer wasn't going exactly how I planned it, but I tried not to let it bother me. After all, Edward and I had the entire school year to look forward to and I was hoping like hell it would be a drama free one.

**...**

a/n: Alrighty, folks. See you next Friday with the epilogue.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Thanks for the love and support you all have given this story. I had a great time writing it. **

**...**

**6 Years Later:**

I sat on the couch in the living room staring at an old picture Alice had tagged me in on Facebook. It was from right after I'd moved to Wild Turkey. I'd been so nervous and scared to move away from everything I'd ever known but in the end, it had been the best thing to happen to me. I'd met my best friends and my fiance after moving there, and I wanted more than anything to move back.

Senior year of high school, Edward and I had both been accepted to several colleges in Alabama and several surrounding states. After some long talks, we'd decided to attend North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a little over three hours away by plane, but we'd wanted somewhere new to start the next chapter of our lives. It has been terrifying yet exhilarating to move so far from home, but it had been worth it. We both loved Raleigh and we loved the school we'd attended. However, now that we'd graduated, I was longing for home and for my family.

The year I'd started college, Charlie and Sue had married and I'd gotten a mother and a brother. My own mother hadn't contacted me since junior year of high school, and Sue was more of a mother than Renee ever was. I was beyond thrilled to have her and Seth in my life, and I missed seeing them.

I also missed seeing Emmett, Rose, Jasper, and Alice. Sure, we were only a plane ride away, but plane tickets were expensive. Emmett and Rose had gone to school in Mobile and had graduated last year. Emmett had gotten his teaching degree and was currently teaching math at one of Mobile's high schools. Rose had gotten a business degree and was currently working at a local mechanic shop until she could afford to buy her own. They'd bought a small house in Mobile and had regular Sunday brunches with Esme and Carlisle. I had to admit I was a bit jealous.

Alice had gone to college in Macon, Georgia and was going for her Master's Degree in Psychology. She wanted to be a therapist and I thought she'd be great at it. Jasper had decided to forgo the college route and after much discussion, had joined the Navy. He'd done his four years and was now attending the community college in Macon. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do, but he'd gained quite a bit of experience working maintenance on the ship he'd been on and enjoyed fixing things. The two of them had a cozy little apartment and had recently gotten engaged.

As for Felix, well, he'd changed during our senior year of high school and not for the better. He and Marcus had gotten real into drugs and partying and halfway through senior year, Felix had taken off. He'd been listed as a runaway and had never come back. Charlie still kept in contact with Felix's grandparents, checking in to see if they'd heard from him. The last time they'd heard word from Felix had been four years ago. It saddened me to think about it, but it made me miss my family that much more.

"What's got you thinking so hard?" Edward asked, coming up behind me and placing a kiss below my ear.

Sighing, I leaned back and looked up at him. "I want to move back to Wild Turkey."

He came around the side of the couch and sat down beside me. "Me, too," he said quietly, pulling me onto his lap. I let out a sigh of relief when he agreed with me. The last thing I'd wanted to do was cause an argument. We'd had plenty of those over the past six years, and I'd hated each one.

"Dad was just asking me last night if we were coming for a visit anytime soon. He and Mom miss us," he told me.

"Well, I guess we should start looking for jobs then, huh?"

Edward had started off pre-med, but halfway through his freshman year, he'd realized that he hated it. Unsure of what he'd wanted to study, he'd begun taking a variety of classes before settling on a degree in Forestry and Environmental Resources. While getting his degree, he'd done an internship with a state park and loved it. He wanted to become a park ranger, and I fully supported him.

I'd gotten a degree in elementary education and had spent the past twp months trying to find a job teaching. So far, it hadn't worked out well. It was Sue who had told me that Wild Turkey Elementary was looking for a third grade teacher, and I was more than interested. I'd been waiting to see what Edward thought about moving back before I put in my application.

Once our decision was made, we applied for jobs, did interviews over the phone and sat around impatiently waiting to hear back from our prospective employers. A week and a half later, Edward got the call that the park ranger job was his if he wanted it. He told them yes right away and we began to pack our stuff. I was more than a bit bummed that I hadn't heard back from the school, but I tried to not let it get me down.

As soon as Edward had called his folks to let him know we were coming back, Esme had begun searching for a place for us to rent. They'd offered to let us stay with them, but we'd vetoed that idea. We enjoyed our alone time and I wouldn't feel right doing certain things in their house. Thankfully, his parents had understood and Esme had begun the search. A few days later, she'd called to tell us that she'd found a small house for rent right down the road from Charlie. We gladly took it.

As we packed up our small apartment, I was amazed at the amount of junk we'd managed to accumulate in the past four years. It took several trips to get everything put away in the moving truck and by the second week of August we began our drive back home. Two days, countless bathroom and food breaks, and one flat-tire later, we drove across the bridge and past the Welcome to Wild Turkey sign. I sighed with relief knowing that we were back home. Before going to check out our place we stopped by the Cullen house to let Esme and Carlisle know we had arrived.

"Oh, my babies!" Esme yelled as she rushed out of the front door and wrapped us both up in hugs. I hugged her back with all my strength and it really hit me how much I'd missed her. She'd become a second mother to me since the beginning and I'd missed her. Carlisle was next and his hug was just as fierce. We stayed and talked for a while before heading to my old house. Charlie and Sue had been thrilled to see us and offered to help us move in, but we declined. We wanted to spend our first night back in Wild Turkey alone.

With hugs and promises to see them the next day, Edward and I drove down the road and around the block before pulling our car and U-Haul into the driveway. I'd seen this house many times before over the years, but hadn't paid much attention to it. It was a small two bedroom house set back from the road and surrounded by woods.

"Welcome home, Bella," Edward said, giving me a grin before sweeping me off my feet in a hug and whirling me around.

**…...**

It took us a few weeks to finally get settled in but once we were, it felt wonderful. Edward had started work right away and he loved it. I just loved seeing him in his park ranger uniform and I'd taken the time to show him my appreciation more than once. I still hadn't found a job and was growing increasingly frustrated and bored. The elementary school had hired someone with more experience and I couldn't fault them that, but how was I supposed to gain experience if I couldn't get a job? It was a catch-22 for sure. I'd applied for jobs in Riverton as well, but seeing as how the school year would be starting in a week, I wasn't hopeful.

Eventually, I got a job working part-time as a library clerk in Riverton and while I enjoyed it, I wasn't really happy. Oh, I put on a good front to everyone but deep down, I was feeling a bit low. Rose was the first one to catch on and demanded that I tell her what was wrong. So over drinks one night, I did. I told her how I felt I was letting myself and Edward down and how I felt I wasn't contributing enough to our household. Being the smart woman that she was, she told me to talk to Edward. I knew she was right.

Later that night, I sat down with Edward and told him how I felt. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I explained to him how I was letting us down. With a shake of his head, he picked me up and held me close.

"We're doing just fine, love. Please don't beat yourself up over this," he begged, and I nodded, resting my head against his shoulder.

Over the next few weeks, things seemed to be going better. I was working a few more hours and I wasn't as upset or worried. Then it all started again. My hours at the library dropped back down to twenty and my mood was all over the freaking place. Not too mention that everything I ate seemed to come back up and I was afraid I was getting sick. We couldn't afford for me to be sick and take time off of work. Yes, Edward had a trust fund but he wasn't allowed to access it until he turned twenty-five, and we didn't want to rely on that anyway. We wanted to make it on our own.

Friday afternoon, I'd gone over to visit with Sue while Charlie was at work and she immediately noticed I was feeling well.

"Sit," she ordered before getting up to get me something cold to drink. She came back with a glass of sprite and a cup of coffee for herself. One whiff of that coffee had me running toward the bathroom and throwing up my breakfast.

Once I came out of the bathroom, Sue made me rest on the couch while she ran out to the pharmacy real quick. I didn't ask why she was going and I honestly didn't care. I just hated feeling so miserable. Less than ten minutes later, she was back and handed me a small bag. I took it from her and looked inside, my eyes going wide and I let out a gasp.

"No!"

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you sure?"

Thinking back, I couldn't remember when my last period was and I realized that Sue just might be right and that made my stomach roll. I couldn't be pregnant. I just couldn't. We couldn't afford that right now. So with trembling hands and a queasy stomach I made my way to the bathroom. Three minutes later, I was staring at two different tests. One with two pink lines and one with the word pregnant in bold letters. We were so fucked.

A little after seven that night, I was standing in our living room, pacing back and forth and trying not to throw up. I was terrified to tell Edward and was so scared that he was going to be angry. As soon as I saw the headlights of the car pull into the drive, my stomach leaped into my throat and I bit my lip hard enough to bleed.

"Hey, sweet girl," Edward said as he came in. Walking over to me, he wrapped me up in a hug and planted a kiss on my lips. It was our usual greeting, but he must have realized something was wrong. He pulled away and asked me what had me so upset and nervous.

"I fucked up," I told him quietly as I stared at the floor. His fingers tilted my head up until I met his gaze.

"Fucked up how?" he asked.

"I'm pregnant!" I wailed before bursting into tears. Two strong, warm arms wrapped around me and pulled me in close.

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly, and I couldn't tell if he was upset or not.

"I took two tests and they both said I was," I mumbled, my fists gripping the front of his shirt.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," he told me, leading me over to the couch and pulling me down onto his lap. I curled up into him, relieved that he didn't seem angry or upset with me. I wouldn't have blamed him if he was.

"How can it be okay?" I cried. "I've gone and messed everything up. We can't afford this."

"Oh, my sweet girl, you didn't mess anything up. It took two of us to get into this predicament. You didn't get pregnant by yourself. But, we will figure this out. Sure, it's a bit sooner than we'd planned, but I don't care. All that matters is that you're having my baby," he told me before placing his lips gently against mine. Our slow, soft kiss quickly turned passionate and before long Edward was carrying me to the bedroom and showing me just how much he loved me.

A few days later, the doctor had confirmed what the tests had and it looked like I was roughly nine weeks along. It was a bit too early to tell everyone but at the same time, it was hard to keep it quiet. Once we'd gotten over the initial shock of things, we'd been ecstatic. Edward couldn't wait to tell his family and I was fairly certain mine knew. Sue couldn't keep a secret to save her life, so I was almost one hundred percent positive that Charlie knew.

So that Sunday over brunch, Esme knew something was up. Edward had a huge grin on his face and he kept piling food onto my plate despite my protest. Eventually, Esme called him out on it.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"We're pregnant!" Edward exclaimed and a blush took over my face the second everyone turned to stare at us. I hated being the center of attention so I buried my face in Edward's shoulder. The shocked silence didn't last long, and I was quickly engulfed in hugs from everyone and I let out a sigh of relief that no one was mad. Esme couldn't get over the fact that she was going to have a grandchild and was beyond happy for us.

Six months later, I pushed Ryan Cullen into the world after twenty-three hours of labor. I swore at that moment, he would be an only child. As I held him for the first time and looked into his little face, I couldn't believe the love I felt for him. But it was watching Edward with him that melted my heart.

**Five More Years Later:**

"I can't believe my baby is going off to school," I told Edward with a sniffle as I watched Ryan walk into his kindergarten classroom. It was his first day and Ryan had been beyond excited. Our boy knew no fear. He loved to learn, loved to read, and loved to talk. He was going to do great, but that didn't stop me from being sad that my little guy was growing up so fast.

"He'll be fine, love. Besides, you'll be just a few halls away," Edward told me with a gentle smile as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"I know," I said as I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss before waving goodbye. Class would be starting soon and I needed to make sure my third graders didn't destroy the room. After Ryan had been born, I'd stayed home with him for the first two years and then a teaching job had opened up. I'd gone back and forth on whether or not to accept the position and Edward had been more than supportive. He'd told me to do what I wanted and he'd support whatever decision I made. So, I'd decided to take the position and I'd never regretted it. I loved teaching and my third graders were amazing. They were so bright and full of life.

My day passed by quickly and at lunch, I stopped by the kindergarten class to see how my boy was doing. I peeked through the window and saw him sitting at a round table coloring with some other kids. I could see his mouth moving and knew he was talking up a storm. I had a feeling we'd be hearing about that.

By the end of the day, I was more than ready to see my boy and apparently so was Edward. He was standing outside my classroom door waiting for me and together we walked toward the kindergarten's room. The kids were lined up outside the door with their backpacks and lunch boxes and my little boy lit up when he saw us. He broke formation and ran toward us, his arms out and he threw himself into our arms. We hugged him tightly, smooched him much to his embarrassment, and then let him go.

The whole way home, Ryan talked and talked about how awesome his first day was and I was relieved that he'd enjoyed it so much. I had a feeling that would probably change once he hit high school.

"How about we stop by Nana and Papa's so you can tell them all about your day?" Edward asked, and Ryan's face lit up.

Minutes later, we were pulling into Esme and Carlisle's drive. I spotted Charlie's car as well as Emmett's and smiled, knowing most of the gang was there. Alice and Jasper had moved to Montgomery a few years back and it was nice having them a little over three hours away. They weren't able to make it to town for Ryan's first day of school, but I knew they would most likely Skype with him later.

As soon as the car was stopped, Ryan unbuckled his seatbelt and began to climb out of his booster seat. The second Edward opened the car door, Ryan flew out and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him up the steps and through the front door.

"I had the best day ever!" he yelled as he made his way to the living room with us following behind him.

"Well, tell us all about it," Carlisle said, picking up Ryan and putting him on his lap. Immediately, Ryan launched into his story and told everyone about his day. A tugging on my skirt had me looking down and picking up my youngest.

"I wanna go to school," Neil said, giving me a pout.

"You will soon enough," I told him, giving him a squeeze. I hated that my boys were getting so big.

We'd decided after Neil, we'd try for one more and I was currently four months pregnant. This was going to be our last.

Emmett and Rose had four girls much to Emmett's horror. He was constantly surrounded by Barbies, baby dolls, and princess themed toys. I found it hilarious. There was nothing quite as funny as seeing Emmett in a dress having a tea party with his girls. Emmett was still teaching high school math and Rose had opened her own garage specializing in classic cars.

As for Alice and Jasper, they had a little girl who was a year younger than Rose and Emmett's oldest. She was a quiet, soft-spoken little girl who had Jasper wrapped around her finger. Alice had her own practice as a therapist and absolutely loved it. Jasper had gotten a job working maintenance at the Montgomery court house and he enjoyed it. As long as they were happy, I was happy.

But, I had to admit I was a bit jealous that they all had daughters. I was hoping this one would be a girl but so far, we hadn't been able to determine the sex. We had a shy one on our hands.

Five months later, we welcomed another little boy into our lives, Conner. Both Ryan and Neil were thrilled to have a little brother, especially Neil. He'd been adamant about not having a sister. He thought girls were icky, except for those in his family.

**…...**

"Why can't Conner come swimming with us?" Neil asked as we spent an afternoon at the beach.

"Because he can't swim," Ryan said and I could almost see him roll his eyes as if to say duh.

"Well, he's gots to learn sometime," Neil said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Ryan, daring him to argue.

"Baby, he's not going to go swimming with you right now. Give it a few years," I told Neil who pouted before nodding and then begging Edward to take him in the water. Making sure Neil's waterwings were on securely, Edward took the boys out into the gulf. There was nothing my boys loved more than swimming. They were both like fish and since I was off during the summers, the boys and I spent a lot of time at the beach.

Cuddling Conner close and gazing out across the beach, I marveled at how wonderfully my life had turned out. I had three adorable sons, a fantastic husband, and an amazing family. I couldn't ask for anything more.

**...**

**a/n: The end. Thanks for being awesome readers! **


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